Without You
by Jesse Falling
Summary: Brennan is acting strange, but before Booth can figure out why, the kaleidoscope of terrible events has already begun. It’s going to take a lot more than they both thought to get back to where they had just begun to make some progress. [BB]
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, or any of its characters. Unfortunately. _

_AN: Enjoy. That's what this story is here for. I hope it serves its purpose._

**Without You – Chapter 1**

-

After all they'd been through, there was a lingering question on everyone's minds: _What next?_

Next, everyone went back to their usual business, of course. Like nothing happened. After everything, everyone just crawled back inside their little boxes and refused to admit _anything_ had happened.

Everything had gone on as normal until a few weeks after Amy Cullen died. Angela was always quiet and didn't seem to smile as much, and Booth hadn't once been to the Jeffersonian. Not a call for a favor, no new cases…nothing. And usually that didn't bother anyone, but it had been two months.

-

"I'm paranoid," Brennan admitted, walking into Angela's office.

Angela looked up from a sketch, her feet propped up on her desk. It was odd that Brenn would admit to such a weakness. "Why don't you call him, then?" she replied, almost offhandedly.

A confused look appeared on Tempe's features. "Call who?"

"Booth," she answered, returning to her drawing. "Remember him? Tall, dark and cocky?"

Brennan shook her head. "I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about this Native American I have out on the table. I think there's more to it than I can find, and I'm know I'm missing something."

She paused, waiting for something from her best friend. When she didn't receive, she thought she might switch to a topic Angela liked a bit more.

"Why would I be paranoid about Booth?"

Angela looked up momentarily and raised her eyebrows. "You're kidding, right?" Temperance just looked at her. "God, I'm paranoid about him and I don't even – well – you know…" she dirtily implied, raising an eyebrow.

"Ange…he's my partner."

Angela sighed and took her feet off her desk and set her sketch face down on her desk, giving Temperance her full attention. "Fine," she agreed, rolling her eyes. "Let's go with _that _aspect of it. Think, Brenn. Partners work together. Usually on a daily basis. Booth hasn't been in here for almost two months. Aren't you even a little curious?"

Brennan shrugged. "I guess I've just seen this time as an opportunity to work on non-FBI cases. It's been a nice break. I figured Booth has been working on cases that didn't require my assistance. It's a break for both sides. There's no reason to worry."

"Yeah, whatever, Brenn. Take your 'break'," she said, using air quotes. "But I wanna know what's going on, and if you're not going to find out what that hunky piece of man-meat has been up to, then I will."

-

"Sir, I just wanted to know why I haven't been put on any field cases recently."

"No reason, really. We just had some paperwork that needed to get done," Cullen replied.

"For almost two months?"

Cullen shrugged. "I can put you on the next field case that comes up, Agent Booth. All you have to do is ask."

"But Sir, I wasn't talking about just any cases, and I do appreciate the opportunity to do the next case, but I haven't been sent to the Jeffersonian recently, or…at all. I wondered if there was a reason for that."

A smile played at the corners of the old man's mouth. "We just haven't needed those facilities recently. But when one comes up, I promise you'll be the one over there."

"Thank you, Sir," Booth said and headed for the door. He turned the handle, but then –

"Agent Booth?"

"Yes Sir."

"You don't need my permission to go and visit your lady scientist and her squints," he said with a smile, one of the first genuine ones he had seen since Amy died.

"Thank you, Sir."

-

Back in his office, Booth was contemplating going to visit the Jeffersonian like Cullen had suggested. But he knew that Bones would want him to have a reason to be there or the situation would make her uncomfortable. Or he could just tell her the truth: he missed being at the Jeffersonian.

As he grabbed his suit jacket and headed towards the door, the phone on his desk rang. He looked at his watch. 4:30. Who ever it was could leave a message.

-

As the sliding glass doors to the lab opened, Booth took a deep breath and headed towards Bones' office. He hoped she would be happy to see him. On his way, he ran into Angela.

"Booth!" she happily greeted, embracing him. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you in forever!"

"Cullen put me on a bunch of paperwork-centered projects. I confronted him about it today and he took me off of them."

"So…you're here with a new case?"

"Actually…" he started, but didn't finish. His eyes had caught onto something much more interesting.

Brennan was walking his and Angela's way, only about two yards from reaching them. She held a file in her hand, and though it was closed, she was staring intensely at it as she walked, as if she thought she could see right through the cover.

And she walked right past them, seeming to not even notice their presence. Booth threw a confused glance at Angela, who shrugged, equally surprised. Brennan was getting farther away. "Bones!" he called. She kept walking.

"Temperance!"

Finally she turned around. Booth had already jogged a bit to catch up with her, so they stood in front of each other. "Agent Booth," she said in greeting. Blank. Hard.

Her tone caught him off guard, but he chose to be ignorant. "Happy to see me?"

"Let's talk in my office." Cold. Emotionless. Detached. Almost…angry?

That kind of scared him, but he followed her into her office anyway. Throwing one last confused glance at Angela, he saw that she didn't seem to understand – or like – whatever was going on.

-

As her favorite couple retreated into Brennan's office, Angela sensed that something was wrong, and decided to stick around by the door. Just an hour earlier, she and Brennan had been discussing her and Booth's partnership. And she seemed perfectly fine with it, possibly even enjoying it, smiling at the very mention of Booth's name. And now she was acting like she hated him or something. And that something was definitely not right.

And of course, it _just so happened_ that where Angela positioned herself, she could hear every word said in the office.

-

"_Agent_ Booth? Since when do I deserve such a formal title?" he asked her.

"Well, what do you want me to call you?" Brennan asked coldly.

Booth shook his head. "It has been a really long time since you've called me anything but 'Booth', so –"

"It's been a long time since I've called you anything at all," she interrupted.

_Ouch._

Booth sighed. "Okay, Bones. I've obviously done something to upset you. If I asked you what it was, would you tell me?" he asked honestly. He didn't remember offending her. But then again, sometimes he did do that without noticing.

"No." Again – Cold. Frank. Blunt.

He raised his eyebrows and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "Okay, then…what did you want to talk to me about?"

Temperance walked over to her desk and sat down, turning on the computer. Silent. Ignoring.

The set of her jaw unnerved him a bit. "Well?"

Temperance looked at him, and her eyes were iced over. It sent a chill through him. "Why haven't you been in here recently?"

"Cullen wouldn't put me on any field cases, and we didn't have any cases that were so old we needed you," he answered, still standing. He guessed it gave him a little sense of authority. Authority he apparently felt he needed because that look she was giving him was truly terrifying.

"That's all?"

"Yeah. That's all."

"Then why are you here?" Her tone was just so…scary that Booth almost didn't want to answer.

"I…came to visit. To see how things were going on around here. I mean, come on, Bones, I used to practically work here. I missed this."

She didn't flinch. No response to his smile, no reaction when he was basically trying to tell her that he had missed her.

"Booth – I've been thinking."

"Okay…"

"…And I think that, circumstances being what they are…" she paused, re-organizing her thoughts. She then shook her head. "I understand that this institute is a resource to the FBI, and I have no issue what that. I just think that over time, you've grown too comfortable with these resources and you've taken to stepping over your bounds." Logical. Impersonal.

She paused and let that sink in for a second, letting him be confused.

"I'm a scientist. Not a cop, as you've repeatedly liked to tell me. So I think that you should stop taking me out into the field like I am one. Stop taking me places with you. Stop taking me…anywhere. This is where I work," she said, giving a small gesture to the institute. "This is where I belong." All Business. Emotionless, but truthful.

"Bones, what is all this? Why the sudden problem? I thought you liked field work…"

"I do, but I just went along for the ride because I was curious. And that's not what I should be doing with my time." Rational. Thought through. Possibly even practiced.

She continued. "I don't want to be a cop. I don't want to be your partner. I don't want to be 'Bones'. I don't want anything to do with you."

That hit him hard. She didn't want anything to do with him. Her choice of words made him wonder if this was not strictly professional. "You don't want to be my partner," he repeated, choosing one of the less painful statements.

"Yes." Not a blink. Not a waver. Nothing. Nothing to show that she even realized what she was doing to him. "So just stay the hell out of my lab."

So simple. So honest. Like it was easy for her.

And he hated it.

"Fine."

And then he was gone. Far away from _her_.

She didn't want anything to do with him? Fine. See how she liked it.

-

As Booth made his exit out of the Jeffersonian, his cell phone began to ring. Without looking at the caller ID, he answered it.

"Booth." Pause. "What? No! I wouldn't…" Pause. He stopped walking. "Yeah. Of course I do!" Pause. "God, Rebecca! Why didn't you tell – "

Pause.

What she said next sent panic through his mind and a chill to his soul.

"Oh, shit."

-

_AN: Please review and tell me what you think. I really appreciate the feedback because I want to know if I should continue posting this story. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but reviews are especially inspiring. Thanks._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Wow. And do I mean WOW. I never expected so many wonderful reviews, and I'm so glad this story is so eagerly accepted! It makes me happy that people seem to be enjoying it. I do hope it stays that way!_

_Disclaimer: The only thing I own that is remotely related to Bones is a David Boreanaz action figure (long story)._

**Without You – Chapter 2**

"What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" Brennan replied.

"That whole thing with Booth. Are you _insane_?"

Brennan looked down. "So you were listening."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Duh! You were shooting daggers at him and then wanted to 'talk' to him. Do actually think I wouldn't listen?"

"Angela," Brennan sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I really don't have time right now, and I don't feel like explaining. We have work to do."

Angela defiantly sat down on Brennan's couch. "Nuh-uh, missy. You're going to explain it to me right here, right now. The work can wait."

Temperance just stood up from her desk and walked out of her office. "I don't want to talk about it, Ange," she said as she left.

-

Rebecca was hysterical. Blaming him, even though he had nothing to do with it.

Booth's previous conversation with Brennan was completely lost to him as he drove through the streets, scanning.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. Not to him. He didn't deserve it. He hadn't done anything.

He was an innocent child.

According to Rebecca, Parker had gone missing the day before. Thinking that he had run off to a friend's house without telling her, she had spent the hours of the previous evening calling all of Parker's friends' houses. She had given up and gone to sleep, expecting him back in the morning.

And Booth hated her for that. That woman didn't know how to be a mother. The kid was four years old, for God's sake. He wouldn't know where his friends lived. He didn't even know how to find his _own_ house.

Booth seethed with anger at Rebecca and worry for his son as he continued searching the streets around where Rebecca had last known where he was. Then his phone rang again.

After looking at the caller ID, he shoved it back into his pocket, deciding not to answer it. No way was he talking to her right now. He had more important things to take care of than a self-righteous forensic anthropologist.

-

The phone seemed to ring a million times. Then Booth's voice told her to leave a message. Crap. She took a deep breath. _I can do this_.

"Booth, this is Angela. I really need you to call me back, because I have something important to talk to you about. And don't worry, I'm not defending Brennan or anything. I don't think I could even if I wanted to. We just need to talk."

Angela set the receiver back down and sighed. She wasn't sure what it was she needed to tell Booth about, but she knew she had to say something along the lines of the fact that Brennan was the only one who didn't want to work with him anymore.

Because quite frankly, at the moment, she would rather be working with solid, stable Booth than with her recently seemingly insane best friend.

-

As the day turned into night and the night dragged on, Booth began to lose hope for the day. He was contemplating stopping to sleep and looking for Parker tomorrow instead of going to work. Then he realized what it was he had just thought.

His _son_ was out there, probably lost and afraid. No way was he stopping for the night.

And though Booth refused to consciously admit it, he knew that there had been many cases of disappearing children that turned up in the lab. But not this time, because Booth wasn't going to stop until he had found Parker and he was determined to find him alive.

-

There was some kind of noise. God, what was that? It was really annoying.

Brennan reached up to turn her alarm clock off, but her hand instead hit the phone. She lifted her head and remembered that she was in her office. Looking briefly at the time, she picked up the phone. It was already 11:00 am. It was Wednesday. Why hadn't someone woken her up? How long had she been out of it?

"Brennan."

"Doctor Brennan, Cullen here."

Odd. What did he want?

"I'm calling regarding Special Agent Booth."

Booth. What about Booth? Who cared? "Yeah?"

"I've tried numerous times to get a hold of him both last night and this morning, but have been unsuccessful. Last time I spoke with him he was heading over to you."

"Yeah, um…" Brennan replied, trying to get rid of the haze over her memories. "He came in here around 5 yesterday and left around 5:10. He wasn't here long and I haven't seen him since." _Thankfully._

"Ah. Well. Thank you. That's all."

Click, Buzzzzz.

Temperance set the receiver back down. That was strange. Cullen had always seemed to avoid her as much as possible and now he was calling her. Granted he wasn't much for the small talk. But it was still weird.

"Morning," Angela said flatly as she strolled into Brennan's office. "Was that Booth?"

"No, it was Cullen."

Angela looked equally surprised and a bit disappointed. "What did _he_ want?"

"I think he wanted to know if I knew where Booth was. Apparently he didn't come into work this morning."

"Do you think there's something wrong?" Angela asked.

"Why should I?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "If this was all switched around and Booth was getting calls from Goodman asking about your whereabouts he'd be freaked, but you don't even care."

"Booth's a grown and mature man. I'm sure he can take care of himself." _I don't_ care _about where the hell Booth is! Far away from me is all I care about!_ she wanted to shout. But she held herself back. "I'm not worried."

"Yeah. I can see that," Angela said, turning to leave.

"God, Angela! What do you want me to do? Send out a search party? Open an investigation? So he won't answer his phone and is late to work one day of his life! So what?"

"No, Brenn. I want you to care. Booth cares about you, and I know that up until yesterday you cared about him. I know it's still there somewhere. I don't know what happened. I don't know what's wrong with you. But obviously something is. And until you find out what that is, just know that the things you said to Booth really cut him deep. You really hurt him, your partner, your _friend_."

And with that, she left, only turning around in the doorway to add one last thing.

"And if that was your intention, Temperance, well…good job."

-

Bottoms up.

Refill.

Bottoms up.

Refill.

Seventy-nine hours missing. Four years old. Fifty-five hours of searching, and not a sight.

Booth was tired, hungry and really wanted to get drunk and forget about everything. And that's exactly what he was doing at Wong Foo's. Getting drunk. Wallowing. Trying desperately for one night to forget about his lost son.

He felt a presence next to him and swore to himself that if it was her, he'd knock her right off the stool.

But when he turned, he saw a face he instantly recognized and instantly wished he didn't.

"Tessa."

"Hey Seeley." Tessa nodded to Sid that she wanted a drink. Meaning she was staying a while. "How's everything?"

"Fine," he replied the expected response.

Tessa was silent for a moment. "Then why are you sitting here alone getting drunk? What are you going to do next? Go gamble?"

"Tessa…" Booth warned. "Just…don't."

"Just tell me what's wrong," she pleaded.

"Parker's been missing for more than three days," he told her, more as a way to shut her up. "That's what's wrong."

"Oh."

"So I'd just like to be alone."

Tessa reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Seeley…"

In an instant, Booth was back at the war memorial, talking with Bones, her hand on his arm, his hand over hers.

In the next, he was shaking off the memory and back with Tessa. "Let me help you," she offered. Booth looked at her for a moment, and then nodded. Maybe she could help him. If not with the search, then maybe something else.

-

Brennan sat at her desk, staring down at her keyboard. She was stuck.

Stuck between the place that she was and the place that Kathy was. Kathy was about to go out for a romantic evening with her partner, while Brennan herself didn't even have one anymore.

Whether she liked to admit it or not, her books thrived off of her co-workers. It was their traits, the things they said, and the things they did that she wrote about. But now she had gotten her and her Booth-based character into a situation that wasn't happening in real life. That was _never_ happening in real life.

Temperance leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Angela had said that she knew she still cared for Booth somewhere deep down inside. And in order to finish the next chapter, she knew she had to dig way down to find it and focus it.

'Bones'. Always 'Bones'.

Stubborn. Cocky. Gorgeous. Annoying.

But…caring and willing to open up to her.

The warehouse. His arms. His bedside. His company.

New Orleans. His eyes. His worry. His kindness. His smile. His risk.

The war memorial. His words. His sadness. His tears. His hand.

It was her who had kept him at arm's length, and had now shoved him away. _For a good reason,_ she reminded herself. But she couldn't help but wonder…if she had once brought her arm in a little more, and let him come a little closer…would that have changed anything?

But she was torn away from her thoughts when her phone rang.

"Brennan," she answered.

"Brenn, Booth hasn't been into work for four days, and no one's heard from him," Angela said from the other side.

_So? _"Yeah?"

"But…I just talked to Cullen and he told me that Rebecca filed a missing person's report yesterday."

"For Booth?"

"No," Angela said, then paused.

"Who for then?" But as soon as she asked it, Brennan knew the answer.

"For Parker."

"God…" was all she could manage. "Booth must be so worried."

"_Now_ do you thing there's something wrong?" Angela asked wearily. "Because it's about time."

"Ange, he's probably been out there looking for Parker on his own. You know how he is. He's very determined," Brennan said, hiding the worry in her voice.

Determined. To the death. Booth wasn't letting anything happen to his son, even if that meant dying for him. _What had Booth done?_ If he had found Parker, he wouldn't be missing work. Everyone knew he valued work almost as much as life. If he hadn't found Parker, he wasn't stopping until he did.

This whole situation was probably tearing Booth up on the inside. Brennan said her goodbye to Angela and leaned back in her chair once more.

_Poor Booth… _she caught herself thinking.

And for the first time since she broke off their partnership, Brennan was second-guessing what she had done.

And deeply regretted it.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number she had come to know so well, hoping to God that he would pick up.

"Booth," his voice came over the phone. He sounded distracted, irritated or maybe still angry at her. _Was there a reason he_ shouldn't _be angry or distracted?_

Temperance's heart leaped into her throat, putting her at a loss for words, and before she knew what she was doing, she hung up.

-

_AN: Please review, it keeps me going. I'm basing a lot of what's gonna happen by your reactions, so please tell me what you think. Thanks!_

_(And just a random side note here: Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday DAVID BOREANAZ! Happy Birthday to you! He's 37 today. And…that's all.)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: TV shows and everything related to them are expensive. I'm poor and have always been such. Do the math._

_AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially people who told me what they did and didn't like. Thanks so much! Well, I seemed to get a lot of negative reactions to Tessa, so, well, you'll find out. Sorry for the delay in getting the chapter up, I was having severe writer's block. I hope you enjoy!_

_-_

**Without You – Chapter 3**

Hoping that the phone call would be someone from the FBI with information on Parker, Booth had wasted no time in answering it, not even glancing at the caller ID. But all he heard was silence and a click, then nothing.

Tessa wondered over to Booth, her clad in just his shirt, him wearing only his pants, and came up behind him to wrap her arms around his waist. "Seeley…" she whispered.

Booth just stood there, staring down at his cell phone. "I think something's come up," he told her, gently removing himself from her embrace. "I have to go."

"Why?" she said with a pout. "Come on, Seeley, I haven't seen you for months."

He just kind of looked at her, disbelief etched onto his face. "_Why?_" he repeated. "My son has been missing for days and you ask me _why_. You know, Tessa, when you said that you wanted to help me I thought it was because you cared about Parker."

"Seeley…" she said for the third time, but before she could say anything more, the doorbell rang and Booth hurried to answer it. Tessa followed him down the hallway to see who it was, but stood a fair distance back because, quite frankly, she could care less.

When Booth opened the door, Rebecca stood before him, bags under her eyes and what seemed like ten more years of wrinkles gained in once week's time. Not in the mood for pleasantries, she cut to the chase. "Anything on Parker?" she asked desperately.

Booth hesitated a minute, looking at anything but her, then shook his head. "Nothing."

Rebecca had looked past Booth in the moment that he had hesitated and saw her, sexily leaning against the archway to the hall behind him. She looked at Booth, then at Tessa, then back to Booth again.

"Well, no _wonder_ there's nothing!" she exploded, too overwhelmed by her missing child to care anymore. "I thought you cared about our son, Seeley. I really did. I thought that when I told you, you wouldn't stop until you found him. But I come here to find that you are taking breaks from you search – if you're even searching at all – to screw your little slut-bag lawyer. And that's just…disgusting. You probably see this as taking the responsibility of having a child of your shoulders, don't you? You don't even care. I _knew_ it. I knew there was a reason I didn't marry you."

And with that, she was gone.

Once Booth had slowly closed the doors, Tessa advanced to him again. "Seeley, those things she said, they don't matter."

He turned her direction, but didn't meet her eyes. "They do matter. She's right."

"Just forget about it for now, and lets just – "

"Ignore the fact that my son is missing more than we already have?" he angrily finished for her.

"Not ignore it, just relax about it," Tessa shrugged. "It isn't that big of a deal. You've got other people working on it."

He just couldn't think of anything to say. Scratch that. He could think of one thing.

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get. Out." he said more firmly.

Anger showed on Tessa's face as she went into the back room to get her things and returned, still wearing his shirt, but with her jeans below that.

"Your loss," she said before slamming the door behind her.

-

Temperance had finally let herself cry. She didn't cry for a victim, she didn't cry because _she_ was the victim, for something from the past or for anything else that she had ever cried for or about before.

She cried because she had messed up.

Big time.

She knew when she got that phone call that something was wrong. She hadn't wanted to do what they told her at first, but when they threatened something so precious to her, she felt like she had no other choice.

But of course she had another choice. She could've told him the truth. She could've told someone, anyone, the truth. But she had known that would have gotten them endangered, too. And that wasn't going to happen. Enough innocent people had already been pulled into all of this.

So she had just dug herself a hole and wouldn't stop digging.

Tempe knew, though, that it wasn't just the fact that she had done what they told her to do. It was the fact that she didn't think twice about it, and she told herself that it was a good idea because of all the reasons she made up to justify her actions.

She told herself that it was because of the reasons she had told him. She told herself it was for his safety. She told herself so many things, but deep down, she knew she didn't believe any of them. And so the digging continued.

She didn't believe it even though she had consciously convinced herself that he had done something, though she didn't know what, to deserve the treatment she was giving him. To deserve the uncaring air she had about his predicament.

That was, at least until she found out that they had been talking about Parker. And that just made it all the worse.

It was then that she realized just how deep she had dug. And it wasn't just a hole for herself, but somehow, Parker had been thrown into her self-dug hell-hole of selfishness and guilt.

And the only way out was to call his name and hope he still had it in his heart to forgive her and reach out his hand to her. But she could only hope.

Brennan almost reached for the phone again, but then stopped herself. She was just going to get scared again and hang up, if he answered at all. And that was not an option.

She had to tell him.

He had to know.

-

Booth had just stopped by his office to grab a few things before he went out with more search teams to find Parker. He was in a daze after what Rebecca had said to him, and was mentally beating himself up for being so goddamn retarded.

But when he turned, his anger at himself turned outward. "What do _you_ want?"

Bones – Doctor Brennan, he reminded himself – stood in his doorway, avoiding his eyes.

"Booth…" she said quietly.

"It's _Agent_ Booth, remember, Doctor Brennan?" he said, voice iced over. "What do you want?" he repeated, then stopped. "Oh, right. Nothing to do with me," his voice was full of sarcasm and she still wouldn't look at him.

She seemed to be at a loss for words. Thank God.

Booth slid past where she stood in his doorway. "Now if you'll excuse me, Doctor, I have something to do. I'm going to find my son." He then turned again and stormed down the hallway and out to his car.

And to his delight, she didn't follow him.

-

Crap. So much for him having it in his heart to forgive her.

Normally, she wouldn't have even let him past her without forcing him to listen to her. But this time, there was something in his eyes that told her not to tell him anything. That he didn't want to hear it. Either that or it was her convincing herself of that because she just didn't want to see what he would do.

Either way, it was her knowing that if she told him, it wouldn't end well, and her knowing that it was that side of Booth that she did not want to face.

And for once in her life, she completely admitted to herself that this time, what she eventually had to face was something that she was truly, deeply and deathly afraid of. And that one thing was Seeley Booth.

-

As he drove to the location of the next search area they were doing, Booth let his thoughts wonder to the reason that Brennan had showed up at his office. She had told him that she didn't want to be his partner, and that she didn't even want anything to do with him.

Booth just figured that her visit was out of pity for the fact that his son was missing, and she had probably only come to give him some crazy anthropological explanation to why children wonder off or some other scenario.

But quite frankly, he couldn't care less what the anthropological explanation was. If she wasn't going to tell him who had his son or where he was, then he wasn't looking to ever see her again. He really just didn't care.

He drove for a little while longer, thinking about Parker and how much he hated Tessa and the fact that she couldn't care less about his son, and how incredibly right Rebecca had been about him taking a break from his search to "relax". And every time the thought about how disgusting he was, he cringed on the inside. God, he really hated himself.

The ring of his phone tore him away from his thoughts and he dug it out of his pocket. He didn't recognize the number. "Booth," he answered.

"Agent Booth, you're going to listen to me."

"Who is this?"

"It's Doctor Brennan – DON'T you _dare_ hang up." She seemed to be watching him, or at least knew him so well that she knew he had been about to.

"You've got my attention," he told her honestly.

He heard her take a deep breath, and then begin. "I have some information. Information that I know you need to further your search for your son. I know I told you that I want nothing to do with you. _I still don't_. But this isn't about you. It's about Parker. And if you want him to live, you're going to get your ass over here and talk to me in person."

Before she had even finished her sentence, Booth's heart was racing as he made a U-turn, heading to the Jeffersonian.

"You had better not be screwing around, Bones." His tone was freezing cold but he let the endearment slip out of habit. She didn't seem to notice, or care. "But I'm coming."

And just before she was the one to end the phone call, he heard her say "You're damn right you are." Then nothing.

-

_AN: Please review. You're opinions really help me with where I'm going to take this and where I know I'd just be crossing the line…or something along those lines. So please tell me what you think. Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Sorry for the long update. I had to finish up school. Guh, Finals. Well, now I'm out for the summer, so updates should be more frequent. And thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I'm sorry I couldn't get around to replying to all of them. Enjoy chapter 4._

_Disclaimer: I asked for it – very nicely – for both my birthday and for Christmas, but the rights to _Bones_ has yet to become mine._

**Without You – Chapter 4**

Booth came into the Jeffersonian with a determined look on his face. He didn't look at a single person he passed; he just kept his eyes straight ahead, straight towards Brennan's office.

Although he had a very strong impulse to kick the door down and demand that she tell him where his son was, he decided not to piss her off. She was going to tell him eventually, and kicking doors down was not going to speed up the process.

When he reached the door to her office, he hesitated, then gently knocked three times.

She saw him standing there and waved him in. She sat at her desk, and she had just turned off the monitor of her computer. "Agent Booth," she greeted. Both her face and her voice were emotionless. He had expected something more.

Of course, on the way over there he had dared to think that _she_ had something to do with his son's disappearance, and that she had broken off their partner and friendship because of it. Then he told himself that no, not Bones – or, Dr. Brennan, rather. Not her. Although there had been people in his past who had surprised him. He remembered people from the Army and from the FBI that he had thought that same thing about, like Kenton, yet they proceeded to turn against everything they knew.

But no, not Bones – Dr. Brennan. _God!_

So he guessed it was good she wasn't shifty-eyed or nervous-sounding. But her calm in the midst of his inner panic was just unnerving. So he chose to ignore it.

"You said you had some information."

She nodded, standing up. "I do." Brennan walked around her desk to lean against the front of it. Booth took a step back. This was really not like her. Of course, what _had_ been recently?

"Well, here I am, in person just like you requested."

Temperance took a post-it note off of her desk and held it out to him. "I think this might help you."

Booth took the small piece of paper with a name and number written in his former partner's handwriting.

_Mattia, 555-0706_

He gave her a confused look. "What is this?"

"It's in the Washington DC area. There's a…high probability that they have something to do with the disappearance of your son. You should start your search with that number."

Booth just stared at the paper for a little bit. "You had contact with this person? How did you get their number?"

"They called me."

"What did they say?" he prodded.

Brennan finally broke their held eye contact and circled around her desk again. She wouldn't look at him. Again. "I…that's not important."

Feeling his cheeks begin to burn with anger, Booth tried to remain calm. "What led you to believe that this number has anything to do with my son?"

"It's just a theory."

"Temperance, I need to know. You're not telling me something, and this _is_ an official investigation, so you need to tell me what's going on."

"Why can't you just take the number and leave?" she pleaded quietly, looking to some other corner of the room.

Booth looked at the paper once more, and put it in his pocket. His presence obviously made her uncomfortable, and he figured he could get someone else to interrogate her, so he turned and left the office. But as he walked farther and farther away from her, he regretted not even thanking her for her efforts to help.

But in an instant the regret was gone.

-

Temperance watched as Booth didn't look back. No thank you, not even an acknowledgement of her efforts. At first she was filled with sadness by the fact that he was so unkind to her, but it was shortly replaced with regret of ever breaking off the partnership, and telling him that she wanted nothing to do with him. That last part had been a mistake. And now she had to pay the consequences.

But then the regret was gone, replaced now by anger towards the FBI agent but even more towards the bastards who took his son. She just hoped the number she had given Booth would lead them somewhere. It was all she could think of to do to help.

-

As Booth got out of his car where a few other Agents were standing around, he waved one of them over. "Don! I have a job for you."

A younger man, who looked older by his already receding hairline, with and thin frame and a caveman brow jogged his way over to Booth. "Yeah, Booth?"

Booth handed Don the post-it from Brennan. "I want you and your boys to work on that name and that number. I want everything. Address, first names, tax records, I want to know whether or not they drool when they sleep, what time of day they take a shit, and I want it in three hours. Am I clear?"

"Yeah, Booth. You got it." Don began to walk away when he stopped himself and turned back to Booth. "Do you think this will help us find your kid?"

"I sure as hell hope so," Booth replied before turning back to the other few Agents. "Come on, people, let's move!"

-

"…and when they do talk, it's like when they first met. Except without the flirting," Angela finished.

"But flirting was all they did," Hodgins said with a confused face.

"Exactly."

"Maybe they'd just had enough of each other," he offered.

"Improbable," Zack chimed in.

"Why?" Hodgins asked indignantly.

"Angela said that shortly before Dr. Brennan ended her partnership with Booth, she spoke to her about him. And Dr. Brennan was completely fine with it. It's highly improbable that Dr. Brennan grew tired of Booth in less than a work day. Besides, if she was going to have enough of him, if would have happened a long time ago," Zack explained. "And," he added, "it was purely one-sided."

"This is insane," Angela said, shaking her head. "It just doesn't fit together. Brenn could _never_ have enough of him, and she knows it. And Zack's right."

"Which part?" Zack sounded encouraged at the fact that he got something right.

"If Brenn was to gave enough of him, it would've happened week one. He's a guy you either love or hate. And I know Brenn, and I _know_ they have the former going on."

"Then how do you explain it?" Hodgins still believed that he was right. "What could have possibly happened that would make Brennan's skin turn inside out like that?"

"Ew," Zack said from the sideline, taking Hodgins' words literally. His comment went unnoticed.

"That's what we're talking about, Jack!" Angela rolled her eyes and continued to think about what Brennan's reason had been. The others followed suit.

After many minutes of silence, Jack snapped his fingers and slammed his palm onto the table. "I got it."

"What?" Angela asked, hoping he was being serious.

"Brennan and Booth have been dating for a while behind our backs. Their relationship goes a little farther than planned. Booth likes it, and he thinks they should continue, he possibly even wants to tell us about it. But Brennan's rational side gets the better of her, and she realizes after talking to Angela that she can't have a relationship with Booth."

The other two just kind of stared at him for a minute.

Angela broke the silence. "If Brenn and Booth were doing things that I should've known about, I would've known about it. No way can she keep stuff like that from me."

"She's keeping all of this from you, isn't she, Angela?" Zack asked honestly.

"Well you think of something better, then."

"Blackmail," Zack answered.

That got Angela interested. "Blackmail? Well, who's the blackmailee and the blackmailer? And why?" she asked.

"Brennan's being blackmailed by whoever has Booth's son."

"What does that have to do with their partnership?" Hodgins challenged.

Zack paused. "I…I'm still working on that."

"It's a ridiculous theory anyway. Well, Angela. What's your theory?" Jack asked.

"Well, at first I thought Booth might have said something to her and triggered an epiphany of sorts. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't been to the lab for so long. Maybe it was about something we don't know about. But I don't think Booth knows why either, because he looked pretty confused right after the fact."

The three squints were quiet for a minute, each saying "damn" in their own turn. It sounded a bit odd out of Zack's mouth.

"Dammit!" Angela finished with a second time, much louder. "None of it makes sense! And why won't she tell me?" Angela stood up determinedly. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Jack grabbed her arm. "Didn't you already try that?"

"Not this way, I haven't."

"It won't work," Zack predicted to Jack once Angela had gone.

"You know, Zack, Angela is an amazing woman. I think you might be surprised as to what she can do."

The young genius just kind of stared at him.

-

Angela walked into an empty office. Temperance was gone.

"Damn," she said again.

-

_AN: Alright, so I'm very curious about what your suspicions are as to Brennan's actions. We now know what the squints think, but what about the readers? Reviews would really help me get a grasp on where you all want this to go. So…please and thank you!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I'm terribly unoriginal. Where do you _think _the characters came from? Not from me, that's for sure._

_AN: This chapter it a lot of talk. Sorry. I promise more on Parker in chapter six. Love and thanks to all my reviewers! Enjoy._

**-**

**Without You – Chapter 5**

Another unsuccessful 28 straight hours of searching, and Booth was back at his office, making phone calls and filling out paperwork for other cases. His movements were mechanical, and his thoughts never strayed from his son.

But it wasn't the possibility that Parker might be out there alone that scared Booth the most, but rather the very probable possibility that Parker _wasn't_ alone, but with some stranger that Booth knew the Parker would be afraid of.

As he continued to fill out the forms that released all other cases to different agents, he didn't notice when a presence appeared in his doorway. When Booth finally glanced up, he found the agent from the day before giving him an uneasy look. Booth waved him in.

"I'm sorry this took so long, Agent Booth, but we wanted to make sure that everything was correct. We all know how important this case is," Don said while handing Booth a thick stack of papers in a manila folder labeled "MATTIA".

"Thanks, Don," Booth said honestly. "Really." He skimmed over the contents of the folder to see what all they had found out. Don remained in front of his desk in case there was something else he wanted.

The house address. Tax records. Names. Birthdays. Police records. Medical records. Others connected with the house and its residents. Their police records. The list went on and on.

"Don…this is amazing. Thanks a lot. Tell your boys they've done good once again."

Don smiled, glad that his team's efforts were appreciated. But before he made his exit, he had to ask one question that had been bothering him. "Booth, where did you get that number?"

Booth looked up, shrugged. "This lady. I don't even know how valid the lead is. But hey, it's better than nothing."

Don nodded. "Well, I hope that information helps. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Booth opened the file to read it more closely. Jonathan F. Mattia owned the house. "Well, Mr. Mattia," Booth said aloud. "Let's see what kind of dirt we have on you." He flipped to the first police record. "Holy shit," he said after taking one look at it.

-

Angela had waited for her best friend to return in the morning. But by ten, she began to get a little worried. She had called Brenn's cell so many times that she thought she might have exhausted the battery just by making it ring so many times, and Brenn wasn't picking up at home. She decided to call Booth.

"Angela," the FBI agent answered by way of greeting.

"Hey, Booth."

"It's nice to hear from you," he said. He sounded honest, but Angela wasn't sure if it was an act or not. "Did you need something?"

"Have you seen Brennan recently?" she asked.

Angela heard a sigh come from the other end of the line. "No, I haven't. Remember, Angela? Kind of not partners anymore. The good doctor hasn't talked to me since yesterday afternoon."

"Yesterday afternoon?" She hadn't known they'd talked _that_ recently.

"Yeah, she wanted to give me this name and number. She told me this prick called her, but she wouldn't tell me what he said," Booth said, the frustration in his voice apparent.

"Want me to see if I can get it out of her when I see her next?" Angela offered.

"That'd be great in Angela, thanks."

"Mmhmm."

"I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yup."

"'kay. Bye."

"Bye."

-

Temperance didn't want to get up. She didn't want to answer her phone; she didn't want to call into the Jeffersonian to tell Goodman that she wouldn't be in today. She also knew that she should assure Angela that she was fine, but again didn't feel like doing it.

Everyone would think she was just being flaky. Which she was, wasn't she? Again she decided that she didn't care.

She thought for a moment that Booth would be worried if he didn't know where she was and she didn't pick up either of her phones. But she then realized with a sudden pang of regret that that was a thing of the past. Booth couldn't care less about her whereabouts.

Temperance buried her face in her pillow and let of a long sigh. She let her thoughts slip to Booth again as she lay in her bed like and invalid. His son's disappearance was undoubtedly tearing Booth up from the inside out, and Temperance regretted the fact that she couldn't do anything about it. She hoped that he had gone somewhere with the lead she had given him. She also secretly hoped that maybe, if all this ended well, her and Booth could get back to working together, and she thought that maybe if she had helped find Parker, Booth might be more inclined to forgive her.

And to end her thinking session, she again mentally kicked herself repeatedly for ever listening to that bastard before she got up to make some coffee.

Tomorrow, Parker will have been missing for a week.

Tomorrow was the day she was pulling it all back together. She knew that for a fact.

Today, however, she was unsure of what she was trying to do. Mentally prepare herself for what she was going to have to do tomorrow? Celebrate a day of pure self-pity? Sit with a carton of ice cream and watch some sappy movie? Do some at-home work for the lab?

_Maybe I should make two pots of coffee, _Tempe thought on her way to the kitchen. _Definitely,_ she resolved once she saw the state her apartment had come to be in after a week of neglect.

-

Angela knocked on Dr. Goodman's door, and receiving an invitation, she entered.

"Miss Montenegro," the archeologist greeted.

"Hi, Doctor Goodman," Angela said uneasily. But before her boss had the chance to asked what was wrong, she got to the point. "Did you know that Booth and Brennan aren't partners anymore?" she asked.

Goodman nodded. "Deputy Director Cullen informed me that they were no longer able to work together." He paused a minute, as though wondering about it himself. "It is a completely understandable situation and I don't feel like pressing the matter while this whole ordeal with Agent Booth's son is unfolding."

"Are we still working with him, though?"

"Anytime Agent Booth would like to come to the lab, he is completely welcome. I'm not going to take away his clearance or ID, if that's what you're asking. But anytime he comes, it will be strictly on his own time."

"Are we getting a new agent, then?" Angela asked, her shoulders visibly sinking.

"That is what I was informed of. Agent Booth is spending most of his time on his son's case, which is expected and accepted, but there are still FBI cases that the Jeffersonian needs to help solve. And Cullen doesn't feel the need to ask Booth to do that, especially with this problem between Doctor Brennan and Agent Booth."

"I see," Angela said, opening the door. "Well, thanks for the information, Doctor Goodman."

"Miss Montenegro," Goodman said, making Angela turn around. "If you could…I'm very curious as to this ordeal between Doctor Brennan and Agent Booth," he told her with a smile.

Angela knowingly smiled back. "I'll tell you what I can find out."

"And also…if Agent Booth ever contacts you with any favors he needs done…these resources are available for his personal use as well, you tell him that."

"Thanks, Doctor Goodman," Angela said, stepping out of the office. "I know he'll appreciate that."

-

The phone rang again, and Temperance once again looked at the caller ID, expecting to see either the lab or Angela's number. She was surprised when she saw David's name, and she decided to go against her vow not the talk to anyone today and answer it.

"David," she said, a smile spreading across her face.

And even though he couldn't see, he knew. "You sound happy to hear from me."

"I am," she replied. "I'm taking a day off of work, too."

"You? Taking off of work?" He sounded surprised.

Temperance began to wander around her living room, continuing the clean up she had begun. She was bending over to straighten up some magazines she had sitting on the table beside the couch when David spoke again.

"What does Booth think of this day off?"

Standing up abruptly, Temperance's hands collided with the lamp on the side table, knocking it off backwards. "Crap!" she exclaimed, reaching behind the table to retrieve it.

"What?" David asked.

"Stupid lamp!" she fumed under her breath as she brought it up to inspect the damage. The body of the lamp was completely broken in two, held together only by the wiring that ran up the middle. "God! Can't anything go the way I want it to? Just…normally? Without being completely ruined?" she asked angrily.

"Tempe…it's just a lamp. I'm not sure what it did to you, but I can assure you that everything's okay," David answered sarcastically.

"No, it's really not okay. Why can't I do anything right? Why can't I think before I do? God, Booth hates me now! He's never going to forgive me."

"It's Booth's lamp? Why do you have Booth's lamp? Are you at his house?"

"I think he needs my help, but he won't accept it because of the things I said to him. And I want him to forgive me. I need him to forgive me, and I want to start working with him again. I want to help him find Parker."

"We're not talking about lamps anymore, are we, Tempe?"

"David, I have to go. Sorry."

After hanging up without further explanation, she stared at the broken lamp. It couldn't even sit upright anymore without help.

She could relate.

_Stupid lamp. _

_-_

_AN: Again, next chapter we have more Parker stuff. Please review, I must know how you are all liking it! Thanks._


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: The characters, or anything related to Bones that is used in this story does not belong to me. Except for the made up characters. Those are mine. But alas, I make no profit._

_AN: Woooohooooo! _**100+**_ reviews, and only 5 chapters! Thanks so much to all my reviewers, I love you all! I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying it. And thanks to anyone who reads and doesn't review, too, I hope you're enjoying the story just as much._

_AN2: I wasn't sure on Parker's last name, if he'd have Rebecca's or Booth's, so I looked up what he's credited as. It said Parker Booth so I'm going with that._

_Enjoy the longest chapter so far._

_-_

**Without You – Chapter 6**

Booth carefully stepped up the five creaky steps that led to the dilapidated one-story. The house looked like it hadn't seen either a paintbrush or a living plant for at least fifty years, and its surrounding houses of the neighborhood looked the same.

He looked down at the folder again, double-checking that he had the right address. Don and his team had found this address, the number that Doctor Brennan gave him being the home phone number. But Booth kept one hand on the butt of his gun, just in case something didn't go as planned. He assumed that the place would be abandoned, because no one was stupid enough to phone from the traceable number of the location. Right?

But just as Booth was about to knock on the front door, just in case, he heard voices inside and began to wonder if this lead would actually take them somewhere.

Booth knocked, and a few seconds later the door opened a few inches, held closed by a security chain. A tan, wrinkly face appeared in the crack about four and a half feet from the ground.

"Whaddaya want?" a scratchy voice demanded.

"I'm here to speak with Jonathan Mattia," he answered.

"Who are you?"

"I'm from the FBI. Special Agent Seeley Booth," he said, routinely holding up his badge. _Didn't he already say that? Or had he forgotten?_

"Why da ya wanna talk to John?"

This was making Booth impatient. He smiled his charm smile. "Can I come in?"

The small crack the door was open suddenly closed, and Booth was considering knocking again, when it opened, this time all the way. A small old woman stood in the doorway. "Come on in, Mr. Booth."

"Thanks, ma'am," he said as he stepped over the threshold. "I'm sorry to bother you, but this is kind of an urgent matter."

"John's sleeping. I'll go get him up for you," she said, waddling to somewhere in the back of the house, leaving Booth nothing to do but look around the small front room. There were no pictures up on the walls, but two standing frames on the entryway table. One was a snapshot of a picnic, two smiling people laying out on a blanket. He guess it was Mr. and Mrs. Mattia, and he guessed it was taken a while ago.

The second picture looked like it was professionally taken, like a family portrait. Booth saw the same two people from the other picture, and someone new, a younger man, who looked to be in his teens. He assumed this was their son.

Their son. Booth now let his thoughts wonder. His son. Parker. Today Parker had been missing for a week. Rat bastards who had his son. He'd kill them if he had the chance.

"Goddammit, woman! Whadda the fuckin' cops want?"

Booth was torn from his thoughts by none other than Mr. Jonathan Mattia, fresh from a nap. Booth held out his badge again as he turned to face him. He was not surprised to see Mr. Mattia in a wife beater and worn out jeans. He was also not surprised to see that Mr. Mattia had thinning gray hair, a face that needed shaving, and a beer belly that the wife beater didn't quite cover all the way.

"Jonathan Mattia?" Booth asked.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth." Booth put the badge back in his pocket and motioned to the couch and the chairs that sat facing each other in the adjacent room. "Shall we?"

"Sure," Mattia muttered.

Once they were seated, Booth leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. Mattia leaned back in the recliner. Booth took out the folder and set in on the coffee table between them.

"Mr. Mattia," Booth began, "I'll start by telling you the exact reason I'm here."

Mattia nodded.

"A colleague of mine received a phone call from your home number. I was not informed of the reason for the phone call, or what was said, but she did seem to think that it would help us in one of our investigations." Booth handed him a picture from the folder.

The picture was one of Brennan and himself at Wong Foo's, sitting at the bar, having just turned around because Angela had demanded that they do so she could take a picture of them. Booth's arm was around Brennan's shoulders, and they were both smiling. It was a thing of the past.

Booth pointed at her. "Ever seen this woman?"

Mattia studied the picture for a little while, and his eyes softened for the first time. He then handed it back. "She's a hottie," Mattia said with a quirk of his eyebrows. "She your girlfriend?"

Booth placed the picture back in the folder. "Nah, just a co-worker."

"Well, nope. Never seen her."

"Have you ever heard of Doctor Temperance Brennan?"

"The author-scientist lady?"

"Yeah. That's the one."

"I've seen the interviews on TV, my wife's read her book, but I've never spoken to her myself. That's her, ain't it?"

Booth nodded, then changed the subject. "You've got quite a police record, Mr. Mattia."

Mattia shifted. "Yeah, well, I'm reformed."

"Really now."

"Yeah. You'll see that there's not a single offense in there later than 1982." He seemed rather proud.

"May I ask what changed?" Booth inquired.

"Had my son."

Booth felt a tug in his chest. Mattia continued "I knew the lifestyle was all wrong, I didn't want my boy to be pulled into it, so I changed."

"That's a pretty amazing feat, Mr. Mattia."

"Do you have kids?" Mattia asked.

Booth nodded.

"Then you know what it's like. And it really isn't that hard."

They were both silent for a minute.

"Now, speaking of your son, Mr. Mattia…"

Mattia sighed. "Oh, yeah. Johnny."

"He's also got an interesting record. Only his…it's all recent."

"Johnny's a rebel, Agent Booth. I'm sad to say that I'm not proud of him." Mattia rubbed his temples.

"Is there…anything specific?" Booth prodded gently.

"Look, why don't you tell me what any of this has to do with my son?" Mattia was closing off. Booth was getting somewhere.

Booth now produced a photo of Parker. "Parker Booth went missing a week ago today. We have reason to believe that the call Doctor Brennan received was related to Parker's disappearance."

Mattia started at the photo. "Booth, eh? So he's your son."

"Yes."

"My son visited us a little more than a week ago," Mattia said, handing the photo back to Booth. "But…if he was the one who called Ms. Brennan, he was so full of drugs I wouldn't believe a thing he said."

"So…Johnny doesn't live with you and your wife?"

"Naw, he left when he was sixteen. He only comes by when he'd outa money."

"Do you have the address of where he's living right now?" Booth asked. He hoped he wasn't pushing it too far. But Mattia seemed like a nice man. He seemed like he wanted, or was at least willing, to help.

"Yeah, sure, Agent Booth." Mattia scribbled the address on a piece of paper Booth provided from the file. When he handed the address to the FBI agent, they both stood and shook hands.

"Thank you so much for your time and your help, Mr. Mattia," Booth said as he walked down the hallway to the front door.

"Anything I can do to help, Agent Booth. I know how important kids are."

But right as Booth was letting the screen door swing shut behind him, Mattia called out. Booth turned.

"There's one more thing, Agent Booth, but I don't know if it's entirely true."

Booth waited.

"But…I think my son's girlfriend has done this kind of thing before." He motioned to Booth's file folder.

Booth got her name from the old man, but when he did, he felt his whole body tense and he began to feel sick. He headed to the Jeffersonian. Of course. It was all making sense now. Of course it was because of him. Working for the FBI had gotten him into this situation.

_Rat bastard, _Booth thought again as he pulled into the parking lot. But he really wasn't sure this time whether he was talking about whoever had his son or himself.

-

Temperance was just finishing up identifying a few WWI bones when she heard Booth talking with Angela. She hoped to whatever god might be up there that he would talk to her, and that if he did she could find the words she had practiced earlier.

When Booth advanced to the center platform where she was packing up, pretending not to notice he was there, Brennan's insides involuntarily tightened. "Brennan," she heard him say.

She turned, pretending to be surprised he was there. "Booth," she said.

"I need to ask you some routine questions regarding that phone call you got. Official stuff." Temperance could tell that he was making a point that he wasn't here for personal reasons. She could also tell he'd much rather be doing something that was more related to Parker.

Brennan nodded in agreement. "Sure." Though before she didn't want him to know about the phone call because of what if would reveal, she knew that now she was ready for whatever was to come. It was amazing what one day off could do.

"Great," Booth said, looking around. Angela, Zack and Hodgins were watching them, obviously not caring how obvious they were being about it. "Your office?" he suggested.

"My office," Temperance agreed.

But as they walked down the steps and into the more private space, Booth couldn't help but place his hand on the small of her back, where it seemed to just fit.

Temperance noticed, and tried very hard not to smile.

Oh, yeah. She was ready.

-

_AN: Sorry. Gotta stop here. Next chapter is the phone call, what you all seem to be asking about. Then things will begin to make sense…I hope. Please review, it keeps me going no matter how crappy I feel._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: My fingers just do the typing. My mind does the plotting. But my money (that doesn't exist) has yet to do the buying. Bones isn't mine, I make no profit (just some wacky fun). _

_AN: Well, here you are. Some of you have been asking for this since chapter 1. I hope it makes sense. _

_The entire middle section is what wasn't written in chapter 1. If you go back, you'll see that the dialogue matches. So, most of this chapter happened the day Booth found out Parker was missing._

_Enjoy._

**-**

**Without You – Chapter 7**

Booth closed the door behind them. Brennan took a seat behind her desk, and Booth sat opposite of her. There was a moment of silence.

"Why are you here?" Brennan asked, her voice a tinge more hostile than she meant it to be.

"I already told you: Routine questions. Phone call."

"No, Booth, that wasn't what I meant." Her tone was softer now. "I mean, why are you here, in the lab, when you should be out looking for Parker yourself?"

Booth looked down, then back up at his former partner. "I know that I can do this right. Parker is too important to me to let someone else do the job, and there are people looking through other aspects of the case. This one is mine." He paused, looking her in the eyes, long and hard. "It's the best lead we've got." With that look, he was wordlessly expressing the thanks that had never been said initially for her help.

But Temperance couldn't bring herself to smile. Booth was so much different than before Parker went missing. And she couldn't help but feel guilty that she might be part of the cause of his grief.

"Now," he said, getting back to business. "I went to the address of the phone number that you gave me, but it's crucial to the investigation that we know what that phone call was about." Booth looked at her expectantly.

Temperance took a deep breath. She was ready.

She talked. He listened.

- - - - -

**One Week Earlier:**

Temperance walked back into her office after talking with Angela, a smile spread across her face. On her way over, she decided that she was going to call Booth, just to see what kinds of things he had been up to. Angela was right. Two months was a while.

But just as she reached out for her desk phone, she jumped as it began to ring.

_555-0706, Mattia_. She didn't recognize the number. Or the name.

"Jeffersonian Institute, Doctor Temperance Brennan," she answered.

"Hello, Temperance."

"Hello…Who is this?"

"I need to ask you a favor."

"Who is this?" she repeated.

"Shut up and do what I tell you."

Brennan wasn't so much scared as she was offended and insanely intrigued. "What do you want?"

"It really isn't so much what I want you to do as much it is what I _don't_ want you to do."

"What is it?" Temperance was getting impatient.

"I know everything about you. I know where you live, where you keep your spare key, which car is yours, and believe me when I tell you that I will know if you change any of it." The voice – she couldn't tell if it was male or female, it seemed somewhere in between – paused for a moment before continuing. "But more importantly, I know who your friends are, and I know everything about them, too."

"Is this a threat?" Brennan asked the receiver. She had gotten them before. She wasn't scared, she was offended.

"My dear Tempe, you are so very, _very _smart," the voice said, loaded with sarcasm. Then it got serious again. "Temperance, I'm not going to hurt you. Know that. I would never hurt you. But if you don't do what I tell you to, I swear on your partner's life that I will make you regret it."

Brennan felt an icy hand grab her heart and twist. "…Booth?" she whispered. Stupid moron, probably just making it all up.

"That's right, Tempe. I know more about him than you do. I know he calls you 'Bones'. I know he has a son named Parker who's four years old, and I know Parker gets to see his dad one weekend a month. I know that Booth hasn't been into the Jeffersonian for two months, and I know why. I know that this morning, he had two cups of coffee before his meeting with his boss."

_Bullshit_, Temperance thought.

The voice spoke again. "And I _know_ that he's coming by to see you without a case within the next ten minutes."

Part of Temperance told her to hang up the phone and call Booth. The other part wanted to know what the voice was getting at, and what they wanted her to do. So she stayed on the line.

"And you know what else I know, Tempe?" The fact that the voice was using her first name, and the shortened version at that, was beginning to make her angry. "I know that when he comes by, you're going to talk to him. But, my dear, when he leaves your office, he's going to hate you."

"Why?" she asked coolly.

"Because you don't want to be partners with him anymore."

"What? Yes I do. I – "

"Ah, ah, ah, Tempe. Are we forgetting our manners? I believe I was talking." The voice continued to tell her Booth's address, followed by Rebecca's, followed by Angela's, then hers. "Don't think for a minute that I won't make you regret something. So just do what I say."

_Uh-huh. Sure, you little prick. I'm not afraid of you._ "What do you want me to say to him?"

"Make something up. You're a writer. Think of something creative. And…make it good, because I'll know."

Temperance cleared her throat, trying to feign surrender and fear. "…okay, fine, I'll do it."

"Good girl." The voice disconnected.

Setting the receiver down and picking it back up, Temperance dialed Booth's office number. As it rang, she glanced at the clock. 4:30. She hoped he wasn't gone already.

-

_As Booth grabbed his suit jacket and headed towards the door, the phone on his desk rang. He looked at his watch. 4:30. Who ever it was could leave a message._

-

When a mechanical voice gave her options for leaving a message, she hung up, deciding to call his cell. But again, the phone rang just as she reached for it. Thinking it was Booth who had just gotten the missed call, she picked it up without a second thought. Bad move.

"I am not a moron, Temperance," the voice said. "Do you really think I wouldn't plan on you trying to tell Booth my plan? Well, I did, Tempe, and now you are forcing me to do this the hard way."

How the hell had they known? And what was the hard way?

"Look out into the lab, Tempe. Through the glass."

She did.

"See Zack, standing there?"

He was.

"On the middle platform. He's looking at that Native American you told Angela you were paranoid about. Oh, and see, now he's setting it back down on the table and going to talk to Jack."

He did.

"How…" she managed at a loss for words.

"I'm in a very secret place, Tempe. I can see everything that's going on."

He was in the security room. It made sense. But that meant that he had access to the Jeffersonian. Bastard.

"But you see, that's not the point," the voice continued. "The point is that I know that you didn't eat breakfast this morning. I know that you woke up at 6. I know that you slept in blue pajama bottoms and a bra. I know that you took 10 minutes in the shower."

_Holy crap._

"I know that you saved conditioning your hair for last."

The tone of the voice sent a chill through her, but Temperance couldn't think of anything to reply.

"Booth just walked into the lab. Remember what I told you, cupcake. And remember that I'm watching."

Brennan grabbed a file off her desk and walked out to the main area. She stared at the file folder, trying to keep her emotions in check. _Don't do something stupid, Brennan,_ she told herself. She had almost reached where Booth and Angela were talking when she realized a single tear was about to escape.

She kept walking, past her two best friends, so that she might have time to calm herself down. But Booth called out her name.

_No!_ She couldn't do this.

He called her first name. She loved the way he made it sound.

_Yes._ She had to.

She wiped the tear away, and put on her emotionally detached face. The one she used for corpses. She turned, and he was right in front of her.

Distance. She needed distance.

"Agent Booth." She hoped she sounded angrier than she felt.

"Happy to see me?" he asked her.

_Yes. God, yes. I've missed you._

Distance, Brennan. Be cold. Be detached. "Let's talk in my office."

-

And when he stormed out of her office, he hated her.

Just like the voice said he would.

- - - - -

Temperance had meant to just tell him about the phone call. But instead she told him everything. When she finished, she looked to Booth for a reaction. He looked confused. But she had to add one last thing. "I know that I'm a part, somehow, of your son's disappearance."

"I know."

"And I want to help." There was a moment of silence. "As your partner."

Booth looked her in the eyes. Temperance knew that he could read her like a book. But his eyes, the ones that were usually so open, were now bolted shut. "Come on," he said, standing up.

"What? Where are we going?" she asked, standing up as well.

"For a drive." His voice was flat as he led to way out of her office. But Brennan followed, unsure of what was going on.

The last time he left her office, she knew that he hated her.

This time, she couldn't tell.

And she couldn't decide which was worse.

-

_AN: Alright, there you go. I think that should clear a few things up. If you have any other questions, you can ask me in a review and I'll try to reply to them._

**IMPORTANT**_: I really need to know how much you guys would hate me if I harmed Parker in any way. Nothing's set in stone yet, or even on paper, but it would be nice to know._


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Thank you to all you lovely people who reviewed. It made me do the happy dance to come home and see 20+ on my inbox. And thanks to everyone who answered my question about Parker, it really helped._

_This chapter introduces a new point of view. Everyone say "Hello, Parker." And sorry, not much happens. Forgive me. We are almost at the climax, here. But not yet._

_Enjoy._

-

**Without You – Chapter 8**

"Zack!" Angela called. "ZACK!"

"Yes?" he answered, looking up from a microscope. Hearing the tone of Angela's voice, Hodgins also looked up.

Angela came up the steps and stood in front of the two men waiting expectantly. "You were right," she said to Zack.

"I was?" Glad, but confused. "About what?"

"Brennan was being blackmailed." Angela's eye sparkled like they always did when she had information to share.

"That's impossible," Hodgins said, sounding skeptical as always. "And how do you know?"

"She just told Booth _everything._"

"…And you were listening," Jack said. It wasn't a question, it was a given.

"Yeah," Angela said, as if to say 'duh'. "Usually I'd be a _little_ ashamed. But not this time. This is important stuff that I actually need to know. I mean, Parker's son is on the line, here."

"You just wanted to see if they'd made up yet," Zack said, returning to the microscope.

"What? Do you actually think I'm _that_ heartless? I care about Parker's well-being!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "But seeing if they'd made up yet was just a perk. Listening was your responsibility."

"Precisely. I do what I can."

Jack rolled his eyes again. "Well, are you going to tell us what she said or not?"

The sparkle in Angela's eyes intensified. She told them exactly what she heard through Brennan's door.

"But why wouldn't she tell us?" Zack asked once she was finished.

"Forget about telling you two, why didn't she tell _me_?" Angela asked.

"That is the better question," Hodgins agreed.

-

Once they were in the car and exiting the parking lot, Brennan finally spoke again. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Booth kept focused on the road ahead of them, as if that would make the city traffic move any faster. "We're going to talk to Johnny."

"Who's Johnny?"

"My gut tells me it's the voice you were talking about. The perv that called you," Booth answered.

"What makes you think that?"

"_Mattia_. It was the phone number that you gave me. It led us to this house in the old part of town, I talked to the owner and he said that his son was visiting them around the time you received that call." Booth made a right turn to get out of the traffic and take a detour.

"That number led you to a house?" Brennan asked. "That doesn't make sense. I thought for sure it was a cell phone number. He had to have been in the Jeffersonian at the time he placed the call."

"Since when do wireless calls produce a last name?" Booth asked. He wasn't being mean, but he wasn't teasing, either. He was being logical and detached. Weird for him, even in a time like this.

Brennan had an answer, but kept it to herself, noticing that it was a rhetorical question. Booth continued. "The owner of that house gave me his son's address and the name of his son's girlfriend. His girlfriend was part of a drug ring I was the lead agent in busting a couple years back. I thought maybe she was trying to get revenge."

"But you don't think that anymore?" Brennan asked.

"When I did a little research I found that this girlfriend committed suicide a few months ago. Mr. Mattia just wasn't aware of that. Apparently he and his son don't talk much."

"So the girlfriend is out of the picture."

"Yeah." Silence reigned over the SUV for a few minutes.

"How mad at me are you?"

Brennan's question caught Booth off guard. "What?"

"You know what I mean. Because, well, you're talking to me, and taking me with you into the field. So obviously you don't hate me, but how mad are you?"

Booth sighed. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I really don't. Part of me is just asking a lot of questions, part of me just outright despises everyone right now, and part of me just wants to forgive you."

"How big is that last part?" Temperance dared to ask.

"Very small," he snapped, giving her a quick, annoyed ice glare.

"Understandable," she said quietly. "And…the questions? I'd be happy to answer some for you…if you want," she offered.

He took it. "Why didn't you tell me about the phone call earlier?"

"Well, I didn't know that Parker was missing until four days after the fact, and even then I wasn't sure if it had anything to do with that."

"But even when you gave me the number, you refused to tell me what was said."

Temperance looked over at him just as he was looking away. But she caught his eyes and he turned back. "You hated me. You wouldn't have wanted to hear it."

"…and…?"

"…and I was embarrassed. There. Are you happy now? I was embarrassed that I had given into the threat. I thought that you'd think less of me and you'd automatically assume that I had something to do with Parker's kidnapping," she fumed.

Booth was silent for a minute, and when he spoke, Temperance barely heard it. But she did.

Then wished she didn't.

-

"Mr. John?"

"Yeah, Parker?"

"When's my dad coming back?"

"I don't know, son. He didn't say. But I'm just keeping you safe here until he does come back."

"Oh."

Parker sat back on the couch, and reached for the remote. He handed it to Mr. John. "Do you have Nick?"

"Sure, Parker, sure." Mr. John turned the TV to the requested station. "Did you want something to eat?"

"Do you have sandwiches?" It came out "samiches"

"Yeah, if you want."

"Thanks, Mr. John," Parker said. But as his guardian walked to the kitchen, Parker's eyes followed him. Then they flashed to the door. He wondered when he dad was coming to get him. Or maybe his mom would pick him up if his dad couldn't, like it sometimes happened. He didn't really like it here.

But at least he could watch all the TV he wanted. Mr. John was nice, so he guessed it was okay. Just until his dad picked him up. It should be soon, he knew. Mr. John said that his dad knew where he was and that he had been very worried.

Parker was glad that Mr. John had come for him, even though it would've been much better if it was his dad, but he did like Mr. John more than that other man. The other man had been mean to him and wouldn't let him talk, or even go to the bathroom more than once a day.

He had heard Mr. John and the other man yelling at each other, but he couldn't hear what they said. But the mean man just let Mr. John take him.

Parker's attention was drawn back to the TV.

He really didn't understand what was going on.

And how very lucky he was not to.

-

_AN: I don't know if any of you have any ideas as to what's going on, but this might turn M. And it has nothing to do with B&B. But maybe not. Probably not. I'm not sure yet. Again, sorry about the lack of action. Please review. Thanks._


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Not mine. No profit. Just fun._

_AN: Alright, so I got a request for longer chapters, so I'm going to try, but there are no guarantees. Thanks to everyone who reviewed…that kind of behavior is encouraged and rewarded, so keep at it! If nothing else, to keep my happy. And…This chapter's pretty pivotal. _

_Enjoy._

**Without You – Chapter 9**

Temperance just stared at him for a moment. She opened her mouth to reply, but quickly changed her mind and shut it, turning to look out the window instead. They were leaving the city, and the buildings were getting fewer and farther between, and the sun was beginning to set. She was trying to think of other things besides the man sitting next to her, but it was to no avail.

"…_I thought you'd think less of me and automatically assume that I had something to do with Parker's kidnapping."_

_He was silent for a moment. Then, "What makes you think I wouldn't no matter what you did?"_

Finally, Temperance gathered up her courage. "Why?" she asked simply.

"Why what?" he said, completely monotone.

"I know why I think I have something to do with this whole thing, so what's your theory? Why do you think I have something to do with it?" She kept looking at him.

"I don't know."

"You don't."

"No. I don't. It's just a gut feeling." He looked at her, then his eyes shifted back to the road. "I think that if you'd told me about that phone call, all of this could have been prevented."

"Booth, Parker went missing the day _before_ I got the call. You couldn't have prevented all of it from happening."

Another side glance. "We could've gotten to him a whole lot sooner. We could've stopped this from getting more complicated."

"How do you know that, Booth?" Brennan's voice was beginning to rise. "Besides your gut feeling, how do you even know that this Mattia lead is going to even lead you anywhere? How do you know it's not just some psycho who's obsessed with me?"

"Some psycho who's obsessed with you? Come on, Brennan. Why the hell would they force you to break off our partnership?" Booth almost laughed.

"He saw you as competition."

"Competition," Booth repeated, the hint of laughter completely slaughtered.

"Yes."

"No. I'm not buying it," he said, shaking his head. "Why the hell would someone see me as competition for you?"

Brennan never looked away. "Is that a serious question?"

"Yes."

She sighed, leaning forward slightly in her seat. "Booth, we've had this whole…physical attraction thing going on since the day we met. Do you deny that?"

"No."

His frankness surprised her, but Brennan wasn't about to let it show. "You've been over to my house more than a few times, sometimes for occasions that weren't business-related. Granted, not many, but there were a few times. Do you agree with that?"

"Yes."

"And in the more recent past, we had become less like partners and more like friends. Going out to dinner, driving each other home, the occasional thoughtful gift, and when needed, comforting. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"To the basic observer, we probably looked like we were dating," she concluded.

"Dating."

"Yes, dating."

"But we weren't."

Temperance's voiced dripped with sarcasm. "Some people just aren't as smart as you. Welcome to my world."

"And you're president of that club, right?" he asked, actually cracking a smile.

"What club?" she asked, totally missing not only the joke/complement, but also his smile.

"Never mind. Just…drop it."

The car was silent for a few more minutes. Booth had never answered Temperance's question. How did he know Mattia had anything to do with it? Brennan was about to let it go when it started to really bother her. She tried again and again to tell herself that until they got to this Johnny guy, she'd just have to deal with Booth's gut feeling. But she couldn't stand it after five silent minutes.

"You never answered my question."

"I know."

"Are you going to?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

He didn't answer her. Again. At first Temperance thought he just didn't care enough to answer, but then she realized he was listening closely to an odd sound that was coming from the engine.

"No. No, no, no! Not now…" Booth fumed, pulling the car to a stop on the side of the road. He got out and opened the hood of the SUV. Smoke came tumbling out of it. "Godammit!" He rounded back to the driver's seat and pulled out his phone. He was out of batteries. "Brennan, do you have your cell phone?" he asked.

She reached into her pocket and came out empty. "No, I must have left it in my office because we left so quickly. Sorry."

"Dammit."

"What?"

"I'm gonna have to go for a walk."

"Why?"

"Engine might fry if I drive it anymore."

"Great timing," Brennan said, getting out of the car.

"What are you doing? You can stay in the car."

"No, I'm coming with you."

"Fine, fine," Booth surrendered. "We're probably pretty far away from the nearest phone. Bastard has to live out in the middle of nowhere." He sighed and they began walking.

"The sunlight's pretty much gone, Booth. Are we still going to try to get with Johnny?"

Booth gave her a look. "It's my son, Brennan. My son on the line. Darkness and a retarded car aren't stopping me. You're not stopping me."

"I wasn't trying to stop you."

"Yeah? Then what _are_ you doing?"

"I was just trying to make conversation. Some people believe that conversation is a good way to relieve stress. You're stressed, and I was trying to help."

"Conversation with you is never anything _but_ stressful, Brennan. Talking to you isn't going to make me feel any better. If anything, it's going to make it worse. It _is_ making it worse." His strides got longer and faster.

Temperance had to take two steps for every one of his. "Okay, no, Booth. You can't do that. I'm trying to help, I'm doing everything I can to help you, and you're treating me like _I'm_ the one who kidnapped Parker. I understand that you're stressed, I understand that you're upset about this whole thing, and I understand that you're looking for someone to blame. But you know what? This isn't my fault. It's the bastards who took him. It's Rebecca. God, it might even be you! But just…stop blaming me for it."

Booth had nothing for her. He kept his eyes in front of him and kept up his pace.

"You know what else? I get it. I know. I know what you're going through. I really do."

Booth finally turned to her and stood in front of her so they stopped, eye to eye. His voice was hard and cold, his words slow and icy.

"How could you possibly know? You don't have a child. You are not a parent. Don't you dare tell me that you get it. You. Couldn't. Possibly."

He resumed walking without another word. Temperance stayed where she stood and watched him walk away, then she turned back and returned to the black SUV.

Damn him.

-

Angela had extra work to do at the lab, so after most everyone went home, she was still sitting at her desk. It wasn't required work, but Angela knew that her house didn't have nearly as much stuff as her office did. And when the lab was empty, it was much quieter than her apartment could ever be.

She picked up the eraser again, sighing rather colorful expletives at the piece of art. She couldn't for the life of her get their expressions right. No matter how many pictures of the two of them she drew, she was just never right. It frustrated her to no end, but she was determined to not leave the lab until this picture was done right.

Angela re-sketched her best friend's mouth. Her smile almost wasn't there, but it was just enough so that you could tell something was keeping her from being miserable. And then Angela shifted her attention to that something and re-sketched his eyes. They were so dark and so full of feeling that it was almost too much, but held back just enough for the common onlooker to see that this man had been through some trying times.

Back to the eraser. She was going to be here all night.

After a few more erasing and re-sketching sessions, something caught Angela's attention. A sound. She set the eraser down and stood up in search of whatever it was.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Angela froze when she saw him in the main lab area, dwarfed by the magnitude of the place. He saw her, too.

"Miss Bones?" He began to walk towards her.

"No, sweetie, it's Angela," Angela told him, finally able to speak. "Come here."

Parker obeyed. Angela waited and when he reached her, he took her hand. "Let's go into my office, okay?" she said. Parker nodded.

"Do you know where my dad is?" Parker asked as they walked.

"No, sweetie, but I'm sure I can find out." They reached Angela's office and Parker took a seat on her couch. Angela sat at her desk and dialed Booth's cell number. _Oh, god…please pick up._

He didn't. She looked up his home number in her contacts and dialed. He didn't pick up there, either. She tried Brennan's cell and heard it ring from her office. Frantically, she dialed Brenn's apartment. Nothing. Angela looked at Parker.

She didn't know what Rebecca looked like, much less where she lived or what her number was. "Do you know your mom's phone number?" It was worth a shot.

Parker shook his head. Angela sighed and put her head in her hands. She tried Booth's cell and home again with no answer. She left messages on both. Then she began packing up her things. "Parker, you're gonna come home with me tonight, okay? You're daddy will be here tomorrow."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Parker got up off the couch and walked over to her desk where she was packing up. He saw the sketch she had been working on earlier.

"Is that my dad?" he asked, pointing at the man.

"Yeah," Angela said with a smile.

"And that…that looks like Miss Bones."

"It is. Good eye, Parker."

"Did you do that Miss Angela?"

Angela nodded.

"Wow. I wanna draw like that."

"Maybe I can teach you a little tonight," she offered.

"Really?" His huge four-year-old eyes got even wider. But then he looked down. "My mommy was gonna show me how to draw. She promised me."

"Oh, sweetie. I'm sure she will once we get a hold of her." She ruffled his hair reassuringly. "And I promise not to teach you everything," she added with a smile.

She finished closing up and held out a hand to Parker. "Ready, hon?"

Parker nodded and threw his arms up and looked at Angela expectantly. He wanted her to carry him. She smiled and picked him up, resting him on her hip, and walked out of her office.

Angela had met Parker on many other occasions, and he had even been entrusted to her a few times while Booth and Brennan talked about dead things, but he had never been so clingy. She guessed it made sense, though, since he probably hadn't seen anyone he knew for an entire week.

And of course, Angela was dying to know where this kid had been, how he'd gotten into the Jeffersonian, and not to mention even there in the first place, but she figured now was not the time for questioning. That would come later.

Parker was alive, safe, and with her. It was a whole lot better than a lot of things, she concluded as they reached the car. She was digging for her keys when she heard Parker whisper in her ear.

"Miss Angela, there's a man in the parking lot."

Oh God. Angela whirled around only to see nothing. "Where did you see him, Parker?" she whispered to the boy in her arms.

"Over there," he pointed to a corner of the parking lot. Frick. It was a tree.

"It's just a tree, Parker."

"A walking tree?" he asked as Angela turned back around and continued digging for her keys.

She found them and let out a triumphant "Aha!" and found her car key. Then she felt Parker tense in her arms. He grabbed onto her neck and clamped his legs tighter around her waist. "It's not a tree, Miss Angela."

Angela decided not to turn around and just get into the car. Quickly. But then she heard Parker scream and felt the cloth come over her mouth and nose. She recognized the smell.

Oh, damn.

As she slipped from consciousness at an alarming rate, her last thought was to hold on to Parker. Her last feeling was him being taken from her arms.

-

Booth walked back to his car. First Bones, then Parker, then Tessa, then Rebecca, then his car, and now Bones for real. God, this week really hated him. But he knew that the only ones on the list that he could do something about right away were the car and Parker. He'd have to try and make the other ones work out later. Except Tessa. He had no desire to fix that one. And he had no regrets about what he had said to Brennan earlier. It was all true. There was no regret. There was no regret. _Uh-huh. Sure big guy. You're an ass and you know it._

On his long walk, he finally let himself think about forgiving Brennan. She did have a point about him looking for someone to blame. He was beginning to think that if all of this turned out alright in the end, he just might be able to think about it more clearly. A small smile spread across his face. Of course it would, if Parker was alright. But now they just had to ensure that would happen.

But the smile on his face was immediately torn off as he approached the car. Temperance sat in the passenger's seat, looking at him. As he drew nearer, he could see her expression. Or the lack of one. Her face was ghostly white.

"What's wrong?" he asked her once he'd opened the door.

She couldn't speak. He climbed up into his seat and sat, closing his door. "Brennan."

"It's Angela," she said in a shaky voice. Booth saw that Brennan had plugged in his cell to the car charger – something he hadn't thought of – and she held the phone in her hands.

So, not so much held as much as squeezed so hard he thought she might break it.

But then he noticed something else much more alarming. A tear ran down Temperance's face, and he could tell that there had been many more before it. She spoke in a shaky whisper. "I'm sorry, Booth. I was just charging it…and I saw there was a missed call from Angela…"

"What? What happened?" Booth demanded.

"I checked your messages…just to see what Angela said…" She let out another sob and couldn't go on. She handed him the phone.

He listened to the two messages and understood how cold, detached Brennan could react like that. Listening to the second one, he himself began to shake.

And they could do nothing but sit and wait in his broken down car.

-

_AN: Don't you just love my chapter endings? I sure do. Well, I love torturing you all in any way I can… ;D. This chapter I couldn't decide if I really liked it or I really didn't, so your opinions would be nice! …and you're reactions to how –ahem- mean I'm trying to be. Please review! Thanks so much._


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: I'm sorry about the delay. Writer's block decided to pay me a little visit half way through this chapter. I pulled it up on my computer every single day for the last week, and didn't get very far. So I'm sorry if it's a little choppy. It didn't come to me all in one sitting like some of the other chapters did._

_Enjoy._

-

**Without You – Chapter 10**

**-**

"_Booth, sweetie, this is Angela. Listen, you're not going to believe who showed up at the lab. Well, I've got Parker here with me, and since I can't get a hold of you or Brenn, and I don't know Rebecca's number, I'm going to take Parker to my apartment. Come by and pick him up whenever you want. I'll be up. I'll talk to you later. Bye."_

"_Temperance, darling, you left your cell phone in your office. No matter, I know that you're going to get this message anyway. Now, I thought we had an agreement. You weren't supposed to tell Agent Booth about our calls. But you did. And you see, I told you that if you did what I told you, everything would be alright for you. But you didn't do what I said, see, and now you're forcing me to do things the hard way again. Now you've forced me to take another person, and it hurts me to do so. And I want you to know that I am not above doing unspeakable things to her. But I warned you. Now things are going to get complicated because you ruined my plan. I'll be seeing you soon, Tempe. Sooner than you think."_

Brennan stared forward as Booth set his phone in his lap. "What are you thinking?" she asked, having finally calmed down a bit, now wondering why she had reacted like she had. She couldn't figure out why she had been crying.

"I'm thinking that there's no doubt in the world that your phone buddy has Parker. And I think he has Angela." Booth checked something on his phone. "And the second call was from the Mattia home number."

"He has Angela," she repeated, mostly to herself to let that sink in.

"And he said 'take another person', so my guess is the other was Parker. Because he obviously wants you to know about it, so I don't think he has anyone else," Booth reasoned.

Brennan was quiet for a minute. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," Booth admitted. "I really just don't know."

"There seems to be a lot of that going around recently," Brennan said, sighing and leaning back in her seat. "How long until someone gets here?"

"About and hour and a half."

"That's a long time," she stated the obvious.

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Of course it's going to be a long time. It took us an hour to get out here," he snapped.

"I didn't mean it like that."

Yet another moment of silence went by and Booth kept his mouth clamped shut. Temperance tried again. "I guessed what I meant to ask was what are we going to do until then?"

Booth looked out the window. "Well, it's dark."

"Yes, Booth, I can see that."

"The address Jonathan Mattia gave me is at least another 30 minute drive, it's not worth the walk there, because if it is him, he's not at his house. It would only make sense for him to be at his house if he's not your phone buddy. So we're just gonna wait, and when we get a ride back into the city, we'll go to the lab and see if Angela left us anything we can work off of. Okay?"

"Alright, that seems logical. But…what about until then? Until we get a ride back into the city."

"Well, I guess until then you're just gonna have to deal with my company," he said, giving her the smallest of smiles.

And of course, she didn't catch it. Instead, she took it seriously. "_I_ have to deal with _your_ company? I have no problem with your company!" she exploded. "It's you! You, even though I've already explained to you why I did what I did! I had to."

"Since when did you become so weak-minded, Brennan?" Booth retorted, equally as loud. "How could you let someone like that little weasel twist your mind to the point where you thought that you had to do what he said?" He looked at her, but she wasn't looking. "For as long as I've known you, you've been the most strong-minded and stubborn pain in the ass I've ever known."

"I'll take that as a complement."

"It's just hard for me to believe your story. I used to worry about you, that you'd do something stupid because you didn't care what criminals threatened to do to you. And now you say that the reason you went with his plans was that he _threatened_ you? It just doesn't fit, it doesn't make sense. Not with you."

"It wasn't the fact that he threatened me, Booth. I've been threatened before, and it was different. Were you even listening when I was telling you what he said to me? Did you hear me when I said that he threatened to do something to _you_? I don't care about whether or not someone threatens me because I have control over that. But when he threatened the people I care about…it just really made me feel like I had no other choice because I couldn't always be there to ensure that nothing happened."

"God, you're starting to sound like me," Booth sighed. "But why couldn't you tell me? I'm a member of the FBI, for Christ's sake! What made you think I couldn't handle it?"

"I…" Brennan faltered and looked down at her hands, and when she met Booth's eyes again, there was something there that neither of the knew what was. "I was scared, Booth. I didn't want anything to happen to you. I knew that if you were hurt again because of me, I wouldn't be able to take it anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"The bomb in my fridge. It was meant for me," she answered, her eyes fixed on her hands so he might not notice the tears. "It was meant to kill me and it almost killed you. It _would've_ killed you. Do you realize what a burden that is? You try to protect me and die. It just seems like that the only way it works."

"Where are you going with this?" Booth asked in his hardest voice, or at least it seemed so because Brennan's was so soft and shaky. "What are you trying to say? That you'd rather have this guy kill you than me get hurt?"

She shook her head. "I don't know."

"Because that behavior is…stupid. It's stupid, and it's going to get you killed," he continued, getting angry.

"Why are you so angry with me about this?" Temperance whispered. "You did the same for me…"

"I did it because I _cared_ about you, Temperance."

"And you think my reason is any different? Can you not contemplate the fact that I might actually have human feelings? That I might actually care about you too?" Without waiting for an answer, Temperance opened her door and got out.

A moment later, Booth's voice came from behind her. "Where are you going?"

"Away."

He caught up to her and grabbed a hold of her arm, stopping her from going any further. "No, Brennan. No way. You can be mad at me, that's fine. But do you remember that we have some kidnapping maniac sending you love messages on _my_ phone because he knew you'd be with me?"

Brennan rolled her eyes. Booth continued. "I get that I'm probably the last person in the world right now that you want to spend time in a car with, and I'm sorry for that, I really am. But you can't be walking around out here alone, and I have to wait with the car. I know you want to take care of yourself, Brennan, but this isn't about you. It's about Parker and Angela and anyone else this psycho might take from us. And I can't have you going and getting yourself kidnapped to make this even harder. I need your help, Brennan. I really do."

Temperance crossed her arms and let out an angry sigh. "You wait in the car. I'm not sitting in that car with you for another hour, but I'll stay where you can see me. Happy?"

-

Angela knew that she wouldn't be able to see anything before she even attempted to open her eyes. She could feel the pressure of the blindfold around the back of her head. And the pressure of something binding her wrists and ankles to a chair. She couldn't move, couldn't see.

And it scared the crap out of her. She was going to beat whoever did this to her into the ground.

Or at least, she knew that's what Brenn would be thinking. She was the one who had been in this situation before. Angela, however, had just been the one to worry about her best friend. She never thought it'd happen to her.

Angela knew, though, that it had been stupid of her to just waltz out of the Jeffersonian with Parker in tow without any kind of caution. And she knew that she should've known that something was wrong the second Parker showed up in the lab. They had used him as bait to get her out where there was no security.

And now she was here. Alone.

"Angela."

Or maybe not as alone as she thought. She froze at the sound of the voice that didn't sound either male or female, the same voice she imagined from Brenn's description to Booth. She waited for what seemed like an eternity before saying something. "What…what do you want from me?" _Think like Brenn. Do what Brenn would do_, she told herself. _You are Brenn._

"Oh, don't worry. You can just keep your little care free artist attitude, because I'm not going to hurt you." Whoever was talking to her was walking in circles around her. From the authority the voice held, Angela assumed it was a man.

"Then…what are you doing?" She tried to no avail to hide the quiver of fear in her voice.

He went on as if she hadn't spoken. "Well, I won't do anything to you unless our dear Doctor Brennan decides to do something heroic and stupid."

"Where's Parker?"

"You need not worry about him. He's fine. What kind of person do you think I am? I wouldn't hurt an innocent child."

"You…you kidnapped him and used him as…as bait to get to me." Angela hoped she sounded braver than she felt. "That's what kind of person I think you are."

"You know?" The voice softened a bit, it sounded almost affectionate. "You're a brave little firecracker. I was expecting this kind of back talk from Miss Temperance, but not from you. I expected you to be afraid of me. I'll admit, you've surprised me."

Angela felt an unexpected strong hand collide with her face as he slapped her. Hard. Behind her eyelids she saw stars. The slap confirmed her guess that it was a man. Or one very manly woman.

The voice was now angrier than ever. "And do you have any idea how much I _hate _being surprised?" He back handed her other cheek. "You little bitch," he said, resuming his circling of Angela's chair. Then he began a throaty laugh.

"I have done so much for this. I have worked so hard. And now you come in and just…completely mess everything up. But not…not nearly as much as 'Brenn'," he used her nickname in a mocking voice. "She told me she'd do what I said. And I believed she would. I thought she'd stick with it."

"You obviously don't know her," Angela said to the blackness in front of her.

"Shut up," he ordered before continuing his monologue. "I think she's got feelings for Agent Booth."

"We share the same opinion." _Oh my god. Did I…? I did. I'm being a smart-ass with someone who could kill me any time he wanted. Oh my god._

This time the blow came from the side again, but it was his fist instead of his palm. Angela felt a ring on his finger tear the flesh of her cheek and let out a shout of pain. She felt her cheek grow warm and begin to bleed. "Didn't I tell you to shut up? You're not supposed to be doing this! You are afraid of what you cannot see. You are the artist. You've never been in this situation before. This isn't something you know how to deal with." He took a deep breath, and when he began to speak again, he was yelling. "_Now will you just stop being such a bitch, sit there quietly and be scared_?"

Angela shut up like he asked. _Now_ she was afraid. He had major anger issues and sounded like he was about to throw something at her. For a second she wondered why she hadn't been afraid a moment before. She had every reason to fear for her life.

Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything else for a while, he calmed down. "There," he said softly, his hand making soft contact with her jaw. Angela pulled back, but he grabbed her chin in one hand. "Now be a good little girl while I take care of some business. Some friends of yours had some car trouble and I have to make sure everything goes as planned. Okay, sweetie?"

Angela wanted to puke, but managed to nod.

-

Booth watched his ex-partner cross and re-cross the dark street to his left. He knew she wasn't a pacer, but not doing something productive was obviously taking a toll on her. He also knew that the way he was watching her wasn't entirely in the protective, bored-out-of-my-mind way, but that there was the attraction factor in there. He reasoned with himself that he was a man with nothing better to do. Even though he didn't believe it.

Finally, two pairs of headlights approached them, and Brennan returned to the car. The first set was another black FBI-issued SUV like Booth's, and the second was a tow truck. Booth got out as the SUV stopped on the opposite shoulder. An agent climbed out and shook Booth's hand.

"Hello, Agent Booth, I'm Agent Halton."

Brennan had come to stand beside Booth, and her and Halton shook hands. "Doctor Brennan, the Bone Lady, right?" Halton asked. Brennan shot Booth a glare that could kill before nodding.

Halton got right down to business. "My orders were to let you and Doctor Brennan take other SUV and I'll take care of the towing and everything else. You'll have access to that vehicle until yours is fixed."

Brennan went to sit in the back-up SUV while final arrangements were made and Booth got a few things out of his car. He then came up and opened her passenger's door. She gave him a confused look.

Booth handed her the single key. "You're driving."

She didn't argue the point and got into the driver's seat.

Booth got into the car and they rode the hour back to the Jeffersonian in silence, aside from Booth calling and informing people about where they now stood on the case. When they arrived at the lab, security had already opened everything up for them.

"We should probably start in Angela's office," Temperance said. Booth mumbled an agreement and they got to work.

Reaching Angela's office, Booth scanned the room and immediately opened the closet door. "She took her purse…and any jacket she might've had," he observed aloud.

"She must've closed things up. All her art materials are put away," Brennan noted, looking over the desk. The flipped over piece of sketch paper caught her eye and she flipped it back over, momentarily distracted by curiosity.

Dear god. It was gorgeous. _He_ was gorgeous.

"Booth, look," she said, waving him over before she could stop herself.

He came over to stand beside her. "Well, would you look at that. That girl's got some talent. It exactly right," Booth said, then thought for a second. "You'd think she drew people's faces for a living or something."

The two of them stared at the picture for a minute, and for the first time since their whole ordeal began, they were both smiling at the same time.

Brennan began to set the picture back down, but before they got back to work, Booth had to add one last thing:

"Hot damn, we're gorgeous."

-

_AN: What? What's this? It's not a _complete_ cliffy? I'm such a failure. But I thought it was a good place to stop, and I knew a few people who could use a break from my dramatic chapter endings. So…there._

_Please review! I'm in desperate need to know what you think, and they keep me going. Thanks!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. Plain and simple._

_AN: YAY! Over 200 reviews! Thank you all so much for reading, and an extra thanks to those of you who review. I forgot to thank you last chapter. Please forgive me._

_This chapter's mostly on the mystery of Angela…I think._

_Enjoy._

-

**Without You – Chapter 11**

After finding nothing useful in Angela's office, Booth and Brennan proceeded to take the path she might've out to her car, looking for anything that might help them on their way. They found nothing until they reached her car.

The two of them searched the area around Angela's deep red Spyder, and found nothing to help them. Checking the door handle with a gloved hand, Brennan found it unlocked, and Angela's purse flung haphazardly across the passenger seat. She almost began to gather the things that had fallen out of it, but realized they needed pictures and evidence bags and the whole nine yards.

"Booth?" she asked, turning around to face him. "We don't have the right equipment to do this ourselves, not right now. And we need to do this correctly."

Booth agreed, and told her he'd call in a team the next morning, and give it to them as a top priority. Brennan thanked him, and they went their separate ways.

-

When Temperance arrived at the lab early the next morning, the section of parking lot that held Angela's car was already taped off and there were people already working on it, Booth watching over them all.

She got out of her car and walked over, lifting up and going under the crime scene tape, and headed for Booth, but watching the others at work.

She greeted him and they exchanged pleasantries. "When did you start this morning?" she asked him.

Booth glanced down at his watch. "About an hour ago, maybe an hour and a half," he answered before hastily walking away to do something else, something away from her.

Brennan realized in shame that she had gone home and gotten a night's worth of rest, while Booth had probably gone home to change his clothes and got right back onto the case. Angela's case. A case she had done very little to help out with so far.

Guilt-ridden, she made her way into the lab to see if there was anything in there that she could work on from the scene outside. Finding nothing, she went to check her phone messages and e-mails – just incase her guy sent or left her anything that might help them out. She was only half way through it when there was a knock on her doorframe.

Temperance looked up, expecting to see Booth, disappointed to see someone else. "Can I help you?" she asked, standing up.

A man who was about her height with ear-length blond hair and a suit advanced to her desk and held out his hand. He wasn't necessarily attractive, and Temperance could smell the cigarette smoke on his clothes and breath. "Special Agent Sean Terrence," he said.

"Doctor Temperance Brennan," she replied, taking his hand for a beat shorter than what would have been polite.

He didn't seem to notice. "I've heard all about you, Doctor Brennan," he said with a bleached smile. He gestured to her desk. "May we?"

"Of course," she said, reseating herself behind her desk. "Can I ask why you're here, Agent Terrence?"

"I'm with the FBI. Deputy Director Cullen – he heads the department I work in – sent me," he said, explaining who Cullen was like she was a child who didn't know. "He said that I might become a liaison to this lab."

"Why?" Brennan asked a little too harshly.

"The FBI would like an agent assigned specifically to these facilities incase these resources are needed. I would bring cases to you that required your expertise, and I guess we would sort of be partners. Of course, you wouldn't come into the field or anything like that, but here in the lab, I'd be your connection to the cases," he explained…again.

Brennan tried to smile. "Agent Terrence, I am perfectly aware of the FBI's need for this facility's resources, and I also know what exactly a liaison is, and what that role includes. We've had one here for quite some time. Where you informed that you would be replacing him?"

Terrence looked confused. "It was my understanding that there has never been an Agent linked to this place. Cullen didn't mention it either way, if that's what you're asking. Are you sure he was FBI?"

"Positive. We…were pretty close."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Close?"

"Professionally."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'll have to find him and talk to him then. What did you say his name was?"

"I didn't. It's Special Agent Seeley Booth."

Realization dawned on Terrence's face. "Oh."

"What? Is that bad?"

"Well, I haven't been officially informed, but I've heard his son's been kidnapped…and the talk of the Bureau is that he's resigning."

The simplicity of his tone was infuriating, but Brennan was too stunned to speak.

"Now I don't now if that's from the FBI as a whole or just his position, but people seem pretty confident. So I guess I am replacing him."

Brennan stood up and walked towards the door. "I'm sorry, Agent Terrence, but I have some business to take care of." She didn't look back to see his reaction to her hasty departure. She didn't care.

-

Temperance stood in the back corner of the parking lot, the back corner of the crime scene tape where no one would notice she was there. She watched as Booth directed the others with so much assurance and authority, making sure everything went as smoothly as he wanted it to. But he was about to give that authority up, give it to some cigarette-smoking unattractive holier-than-thou Agent who didn't know crap about the lab. Or Bones.

God, she missed that nickname.

But why hadn't he told her? Why did she have to find out from someone else that he was resigning? Was it true? Or just a rumor?

-

Booth saw Brennan standing at the edge of the tape and averted his eyes. If she wanted to help, she'd come and offer it. No use in extending a special invitation.

He went over the evidence again in his head. Angela's keys had been found under the car. Fingerprints were all over the door handle and edge of the window, probably all Angela's. They were getting analyzed anyway. The contents of Angela's purse were gathered and packaged. The purse was inside and the door unlocked, so whoever it was snatched her after she had been to her car.

Booth left the team to get the rest of the evidence, and he went inside the lab to request the security tapes from the night before. As he walked by Brennan, he gave in. He knew she wanted to help and just didn't know how.

She still watched the scene around Angela's car, but when Booth spoke to her, she looked at him. "Brennan? I'm gonna go and watch the security videos. Would you like to come?"

She nodded and they walked in silence. Booth was a little thrown by the expression she wore when she looked at him, confused by what it could mean. Brennan wasn't naturally an open book, but over time Booth had learned to read her particular way to show emotions.

And now he was reading that something was wrong…when she looked at him.

Booth moved the thought to the back of his mind as they approached the security desk and he requested the tapes he needed. They went into Brennan's office to watch them, and set them to before the recorded time for the message from Angela on his cell. They hadn't gotten through the first five minutes when a knock came on her door.

-

Brennan paused the tape and stood to face her visitor, but her heart sank when she saw who it was.

Zack and Hodgins stood in her doorway, obviously waiting for the answer to an obvious question. She brought them in, got them to sit down, and took a deep breath.

"No doubt you two are wondering about the whole ordeal in the parking lot." They nodded. "Well…Angela's been…" she fished for the right word. "Kidnapped" just didn't seem right. "Abducted" sounded too permanent. "Snatched" wasn't serious enough.

"Taken," Booth finished for her. She gave him a thankful glance.

"Taken," Jack repeated. "As in…kidnapped?"

"Yes," Brennan said, almost a whisper.

"Why?" Zack pitched in.

Booth looked at Brennan, questioning if she wanted him to tell them. She nodded.

"We think it's probably for the same reason that Parker was taken. Except this time it's aimed towards Brennan, instead of me."

"Why do you think any of this is happening in the first place?" Jack asked.

"We're working on it."

"We're here if there's anything for us to do," Hodgins said, standing up. Noticing that there was nothing else to be said, he clapped a hand onto Booth's shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your son, man, I really am. It sucks, and I know how completely pissed off you must be about the whole thing. But I want to find Angela. I'm going to help find her, do it myself if I have to." Hodgins turned abruptly and left Brennan's office without as much as a look back. His movements were jerky and agitated, so Brennan could tell without seeing his ace that he was really pissed. But she understood.

Zack quietly got up and left the office. He didn't seem so much pissed as confused. Then again, nobody even knew if Zack capable of showing his irritable side.

Once they had both gone, Brennan turned to Booth and sighed. He gave her a sympathetic smile, and they returned to the tapes.

After a while of uneventful watching, a dark green sedan pulled up in the drop off area in front of the Anthropology lab. Both Brennan and Booth leaned forward and watched closely as a small figure got out of the car and walked into the lab, and the car drove away. They switched their attention to the cameras by the security desk, where he looked for a guard. When he found one, he talked to him and was let into the lab. Inside the lab, they switched to different angles as the small figure wandered through the hallways.

"He's only been here a few times," Booth said. "He doesn't know his way around."

They watched as he walked to Brennan's office, checking inside the dark abyss. "Well, at least he knows where to find you…" Booth said with a small smile.

A few seconds after that, Angela came out and found Parker, and took his hand. They watched the entire exchange without sound, and if possible, Booth leaned forward a bit more, as if that would make him hear it. The pair on the screen walked to Angela's office, and she tried calling several different numbers. When she was seemingly unsuccessful, Angela began packing up her things, and Parker's attention found the drawing Booth and Brennan had found in Angela's office. At that, they smiled a bit.

They switched cameras again, to the parking lot where they watched Angela reach her car, spin, and turn back around. And then like in some cheesy horror flick, a strong figure slowly approached from behind her. Temperance drew a sharp intake of breath without realizing it when he knocked Angela out, but Parker in the car, and slug Angela over his shoulder and put her in the passenger's seat to look like she was sleeping.

As the car drove off, Booth was able to see the license plate number very fuzzily. Once he wrote it down, he clicked off the screen and turned to Brennan. "Did you see what I saw?" he asked her.

"Parker went with our mystery guy willingly," she said. She had noticed it right off the bat.

Booth nodded and leaned back in his seat. "So my son trusts whoever this is," he analyzed in an agitated voice.

"They used him as bait."

"Do you think he knew he was supposed to get her out into the parking lot?" he asked in a softer voice, as if worried that his four year old son was assisting in all this and not as innocent as they thought.

Temperance saw the pain on Booth's face, and decided to take the safe route. "What do your instincts tell you?" she inquired gently.

"He's four years old, Brennan. Either he's oblivious, and whoever had him predicted what might happen, or he does what he's told. Someone he trusts tells him to make sure Miss Angela gets out into the parking lot, he might do it."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't think he knows. That's what my gut tells me. But that's also what I want to believe…so…I don't know."

Temperance shifted closer to Booth, looking him in the eyes. "Since when don't you trust your instincts?"

Booth looked away.

"I'm gonna go give this plate number to Don's boys. We should have all the information in a few hours." He got up and grabbed his jacket. "You can come with me if you want."

"No, I've got some work I've got to do here. But, thanks."

"Sure," he said. "I'll take you along once I've got the info, okay?"

"Great."

Booth left Brennan's office, and she expected his retreat to be like all the others: Hasty, never looking back. His was hurried, obviously, because he wanted the information as soon as possible. But Temperance was surprised as she watched him walk away when he turned around and walked backwards, giving her and open-armed palms-up gesture, to say that his offer was still open.

She smiled and shook her head. She couldn't believe he would resign. She didn't want him to resign. Then and there, Temperance made a vow to herself to make sure that didn't happen. He was way too much a part of their team to leave. He'd take some convincing if he had made up his mind, but she felt partly responsible, so she'd do all she could to prevent him from leaving them.

-

"Miss Angela?"

Angela turned to the source of the sound. Not that it did much good, considering the fact that she couldn't see. "Parker."

"What are you doing?"

"Someone tied me up. Can you help me?"

Angela thought she heard him shake his head. "I'm not supposed to." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not supposed to be in here."

"Can you at least take this off of my eyes so I can see?" Angela breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the child inch forward. She heard and felt his reach up to her face to pull the blindfold down.

A loud crash made Parker withdraw his hands before Angela could see anything. She tried to talk him into finishing taking it off of her, but he had already retreated.

"Parker!" a loud, angry shout came from behind her. She heard Parker gasp in fear as the voice got closer. Then it was in the same room as them. "Parker! What did I tell you about coming in here?"

Parker sounded on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry," he practically squeaked and shuffled off.

Once he was gone, Angela felt and smelled the man's face directly in front of hers. She tried not to grimace at the stench. "Now, why would you manipulate a small boy into betrayal?" he asked her.

"What?"

The back of his hand collided with her face again. "Don't make a child betray the people he trusts." He left her at that, leaving her utterly confused.

Parker wasn't a captive? He _trusted_ these people? Well, things were definitely not getting any less complicated, she knew that for sure. She hated the fact that she couldn't see. Still.

-

"Agent Booth?"

Booth looked up from his desk to see the girl from fingerprint analysis. "Did you find anything?"

She nodded, handed him the file. "Three different prints. One was Miss Montenegro's, one was a child's, and then we have our mystery print."

"Did you match it up to the prime suspect I gave you? There should have been a print in the file."

"Yeah, the report's in here," she said, and left.

Booth opened the file. The results floored him.

"Yes!" he said aloud, reaching for his phone. Things were definitely getting less complicated. Finally.

-

_AN: Please Review! I'm trying to keep track of who I've still got with me hanging in there. And if you could, tell me if this is moving too slow for you. I'm thinking about speeding things up. Or not, depending on what you guys think. Should they be faster than this? Are they jumping to conclusions to fast? I must know! Thank you so much!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I bought a crystal skull while I was in Disneyland. Such an expense drained the savings I had for my master plan to buy the rights to Bones. Damn overpriced skull._

_AN: My humblest of apologies, my dear readers, for taking nearly a month to update and giving you only this. I have been vacationing. I wrote most of this on the car ride there, so I apologize ahead for any and all mistakes. And, I wanted to make it longer, but…couldn't._

_Please enjoy anyway._

**Without You – Chapter 12**

-

"Twelve point match" was all that came over the line when Brennan picked up her cell phone. She knew it was Booth, but she didn't know what he was talking about.

"What?" she asked.

"Twelve point match," he repeated, as if that would help her understand it better. Booth was obviously excited about something.

"What's a 12 point match to what?"

"The fingerprints on the car that weren't Angela's and weren't Parker's. It's a match to one Jonathan A. Mattia."

"The son?"

"You got it."

There was a pause as they each thought about that. Brennan spoke first. "Are you going to go talk to him?"

"Yeah, I thought you might like to come and ask a few questions of your own." Booth sounded like he was smiling.

Brennan sighed, her own smile slipping across her face. "Alright, I'll come. Give me ten minutes?"

"Done."

Brennan hung up and turned back to the case on her desk. All she had to do was sign here and there and the release form was done. She loved having an assistant. She set the form aside and pulled up her latest chapter, having to add one last thing she just thought of. Once that was done, she closed everything in her office down and went out to the main area to wait for Booth and tell Zack a few last minute things.

-

As terrible as it sounded, Booth was actually looking forward to seeing Brennan. He knew that that in and of itself wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, but he just felt a little guilty given the circumstances. His son was out there. But, he reasoned with himself, they knew he was alive and unharmed, but they didn't know how long that would last. So all the better to get to Brennan faster and asking the questions sooner. Of course that was it.

When he arrived at the lab, Brennan already had all of her things in order and was ready to leave right away. Good. The faster, the better. Booth was actually excited to get on to finally questioning Johnny. Or maybe he was anxious. After all this time, they were finally getting closer to solving the case. To finding Parker and Angela. To getting this whole ordeal behind them and getting back to their normal lives.

The hour long car ride they hadn't quite made before was spent in anything but silence. The two of them bounced ideas of motive off of each other, talked about what they had planned for the past week that went down the drain because of the case, what they planned to do once the case was solved.

"I'm gonna spend as much time with Parker as Rebecca will allow me. There's no way I'm ever gonna pass up another opportunity to spend time with him ever again," Booth told her. "Other than that, I'm not really sure. I think I'm gonna buy Angela something really nice, too."

"Any thoughts as to when you're going back to work?" Brennan asked.

Booth gave her a side glance. "I'm not really sure. Why?"

"Well, I heard from the Agent who's been doing your job at the lab that there was some talk about you resigning. Because of this whole thing with Parker," she explained. "I was wondering whether or not it's all just a rumor."

Booth didn't react at all for what felt like hours. It was actually less than a minute. "After we couldn't find anything on Parker, I was really discouraged. Plus, I thought that one of the main reasons I loved my job hated me." Another side glance. Brennan noticed, and her cheeks flared. "I was in a crappy mood and told Cullen to replace me at the lab. He asked if it was permanent. I didn't give him an answer."

"Do you have one yet?"

"What?"

"An answer."

"…no, I don't." His tone told Brennan that the conversation should be left at that.

The rest of the car ride they talked about everything but themselves. When they reached the small town-like gathering of houses, it took less than a minute to find the only apartment complex in the area. But as they drew nearer, it didn't look like anyone lived in a single one of the apartments.

Still, they went to the number that Booth had from the file. When they reached it, Booth motioned for Brennan to stand back a few steps while he knocked, his hand on the butt of his gun. Both were expecting Booth to have to kick the door down, but they were surprised when who they assumed was Johnny Mattia opened the door after the first series of knocks.

"Jonathan Mattia?" Booth asked.

"That's my dad. I'm Johnny," he replied.

"Uh-huh. I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth from the FBI. I need to ask you a few questions."

Johnny stepped back out of the doorway to let them in, and led them to a worn couch. He sat, motioned for them to do the same. "How can I help you guys?" he asked.

"We're conducting an investigation on the disappearance of two individuals," Booth began, keeping it professional. He pulled out a picture of Angela, then one of Parker and set them both on the coffee table between him and Johnny. "Do you recognize either of these people?"

There was a moment of tense silence as Booth and Brennan waited to see if he would tell the truth. His prints were found on Angela's car, they knew he was guilty. Didn't they?

Johnny looked up from the pictures and smiled at them. It was a creepy smile, one full of knowledge of something the other two were completely oblivious to. Booth and Brennan both hated it.

"What?" Booth asked.

Johnny kept smiling. "I left my prints on the scene, didn't I?"

Booth's face hardened. "Where are they?"

Johnny pointed to the picture of Parker. "He's staying with my dad. Last I heard they were going on vacation somewhere. I'm not sure where." He pointed to the picture of Angela. "She's just recently taken up residence in this building." The smile never disappeared. Booth was ready to pounce on him when Johnny added one last thing. "You caught me, alright? That's totally cool, my bad. I'm willing to give you full cooperation, Agent Booth, cuff me now if you want."

Though confused, Booth did just that. "Where is Angela?" he asked as he tightened the cuffs.

"Twelve-A."

"You wanna lead us there?" Booth asked angrily, twisting the cuffs. He led them to the door, with Brennan trailing behind. They walked down the stairs and to apartment 12-A and opened the unlocked the door.

The second the door was open wide enough to see what was inside, Brennan was bolting past Booth and his captive to get to what was in the middle of the empty apartment.

"Angela!"

"Brenn? Brenn, is that you?" Angela asked.

Brennan took the blindfold off of Angela's eyes, then worked on the rest of the ties that held Angela's body to the chair. Booth took Johnny to make sure no one else was in the complex. Once Angela was untied, Brennan hugged her for a long time, neither of them knew how long. But Brennan eventually pulled back and looked over her best friend.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Angela just smiled at her. "Yeah. You found me."

"Booth did." Brennan wrapped her friend in another embrace. "I'm glad you're alright, Ange."

While the two of them had their little reunion, Booth called in someone to take Johnny off his hands and give him a ride back to the Hoover building. He came up behind Brennan and got her attention away from Angela for a minute. "I called in someone to take our guy back to DC and give me a ride to the Hoover building," he said. He handed her a hundred dollar bill. "Go get yourselves fixed up and go somewhere nice. My treat."

Brennan took the money with a look of confusion. "Booth…I can't take this," she said, trying to give it back to him.

He just closed her hand around it. "Yes, you can."

"Why?"

"You deserve it. Both of you."

Brennan gave up and smiled. "Thank you," she said seriously. "You won't be joining us?"

Booth shook his head. "I've got a kidnapper to question and a son to rescue. There will be no fine dining for me." He changed the subject, handing her his keys. "Take my car."

Brennan took the keys and smiled again, turning to walk Angela to the car. Once Angela was in and secured, Brennan walked back over to Booth. Before either of them could say anything, Brennan wrapped her arms around Booth's neck. His arms found their way around her waist and held her for just long enough to get the point across: the whole hating each other thing was of the past.

Once they released each other, Brennan leaned in and kissed Booth on the cheek. She then whispered in his ear, "You're a good man, Seeley Booth. I don't doubt that you'll find Parker and get to do all the things with him you told me about. Good luck."

She didn't look back, too embarrassed and blushing too hard to bring herself to meet his eyes. She climbed into the car and turned the key in the ignition. Angela noticed.

"You're blushing."

"What? Not I'm not…" Brennan argued. But by the way her cheeks were burning, she knew Angela was right.

"I saw that, by the way. I saw you kiss him."

"It was just on the cheek."

"A kiss is a kiss, Brenn. You need to tell me what I missed. Now."

Brennan sighed in surrender. There was no hiding from it.

-

_AN: Sorry to disappoint anyone with Brennan's aim being a bit off to the side with the whole kiss thing…but I'm saving the good stuff for later._

_Please review. _

_I promise chapter 13 much sooner._


	13. Chapter 13

_AN: Alright, so I lied about having this chapter up sooner. I have an excuse, but I don't think anyone really cares. This chapter is mostly information on the case._

_Enjoy._

**Without You – Chapter 13**

"Looks like you know all the ropes, Johnny," Booth said as he pulled his jacket back and rested his hands on his hips. "The security system at the Jeffersonian and the Hoover building, sneaking the cameras into Doctor Brennan's bedroom, making it look like the calls were coming from your dad's house…it's pretty impressive, really." He leaned on the table at which his target sat. "Now, is there anything you feel like you need to tell me before we continue?"

"I didn't do what you think I did."

"And what is it that I think you did?"

"You think I molested your son."

_Stone. Face of stone. No emotions. You are stone._ "You say that's not why you kidnapped him, then why did you?"

Johnny looked down at his hands. "You talked to my father, didn't you?"

"Nice man."

"That's what everyone thinks," Johnny said with a disappointed laugh. "Well, he's not when you're a six year old boy in his house."

"You were abused." Booth said, more of a statement than an actual question. He sat down.

"Worse," Johnny spat. "My father likes little boys. Always has. It started when I was three, I think. I'm pretty sure he'd never done anything like that before. But ever since I can remember, it's always been me. I loved my father, I trusted my father. I was one of those little boys who wanted more than anything to be just like his dad. But it was because I didn't understand. I had no idea what my father was doing."

Booth leaned back in his chair. "Your father's a child molester."

"He used to kidnap little boys, ones that no one cared about. But first he'd be out on the streets, meeting them, playing with them, asking for hugs, making them trust him." Johnny spoke with an overwhelming disgust in his voice. "Then he'd invite them over to play with me, convince them to spend the night. And then in the middle of the night while they were asleep, he'd take them to his office."

"No one ever reported him?" Booth asked.

"Everyone was too afraid, and my mother never even knew about it. By the time I figured out what was going on, my father had me on such a short rein that it never even crossed my mind to tell someone. He stopped doing things like that to me when I was twelve, because he didn't want a teenager. He wanted little boys. I booked when I was sixteen, found myself a job, been trying to figure out how to get back at my dad ever since."

"During the years when you were between twelve and sixteen, why didn't you do anything then?" Booth asked.

"I desperately wanted my father's approval. I was young, he was the only person I trusted. But…to get him to even like me at all, I went out, and I was the one to…" Johnny stopped and shook his head. "Arrest me if you want. I deserve it."

"Why? What did you do?"

Johnny took a deep breath and leaned back. "I went out and got him what he wanted. A couple of people in the neighborhood were getting suspicious of him, and it was the only way to really keep that approval I wanted so desperately."

Booth raised his eyebrows. This was getting weirder and weirder. "You went out and kidnapped young boys?"

He said nothing, but he nodded ever so slightly. "It's awful, I know that now. I don't do it anymore."

"So is that a statement that you didn't kidnap Parker?"

"No. I did." He now stated it clearly. "I kidnapped your son, Agent Booth."

"You seem pretty confident with yourself. You think I'm gonna let you off easy just because you didn't try to hide it?"

"Of course not, I'm not stupid."

"I'm not convinced."

"I know what I did was wrong."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I know everything about my father and the things he's done. I can tell you everything if you'll just…please arrest him."

"You did all this to get our attention so we'd arrest your father?" Booth asked. Johnny nodded. Booth wasn't buying it. "How do we know this isn't some big set up? How do we know he won't be expecting us to pay him a little visit?"

Johnny looked Booth straight in the eyes this time. "My own father molested me almost every night for eight years. Believe me, I want him behind bars."

Booth was silent for a minute. "Fine," he finally said. "But first, tell me about your whole kidnapping, blackmailing, abusing adventure you've had recently. Tell me everything. Start with why you kidnapped my son."

"I knew that it would get your attention, I knew that you could do something about what my father has been doing."

"Why did you choose me? There are plenty of other FBI agents, ones that deal with things more like your situation, who have children. My son doesn't even live with me."

"I knew that you worked with Doctor Brennan. I knew you liked Doctor Brennan. I knew that I could use her to get your attention as well. Plus, there is more to my father than just molesting the children. A few of them tried to get away, tried to tell someone. My father wouldn't stand for that. He killed four of them. I don't know what he did with their bodies, but they're nothing but bones now."

"You're telling me that you kidnapped my son so that the case wouldn't have to get reassigned when someone finally figured out what was going on?" Booth asked.

"I guess." Booth just let Johnny fill the silence he was faced with. "You're one of the best agents in DC," he continued. "I knew that if I got your attention, my father was sure to get caught."

"You did all of this to get your father arrested."

"Yes."

"Then what did Miss Montenegro have to do with it?"

"Who?"

"Angela," Booth said impatiently.

"To get Doctor Brennan's attention. After she finally confessed to you about the phone calls, she seemed to think that from there it was all your gig, but she was needed just as much as you were, Agent Booth."

"You used Parker as bait."

"It was an easy way to get her out of the lab. I borrowed the little tyke from my dad. Told him I was taking him out for a late dinner. Told Parker I was taking him away from my dad to go see you and Doctor Brennan. He didn't know who that was. I had to tell him it was 'Bones'," Johnny smiled at that. "He seemed pretty excited to see the two of you."

"Why didn't you _actually_ bring him to me and Doctor Brennan? And _then_ get us to go and arrest your father? Because, not having Parker in front of me, and you telling me that you could've had him makes me not really believe you, and not really all that willing to put a team in danger of arresting your father and falling into some big setup."

"Why don't you believe me?" Johnny asked, truly confused as to why his plan wasn't working.

"You're really messed up, Johnny. And stupid. Crime really isn't the life for you. You're…really not good at it."

-

"So nothing happened between the two of you while I was…not there?" Angela asked in disbelief.

"You witnessed the first time he and I have even really touched since this whole thing started."

"But you two have at least been talking."

"Mostly about case related topics…but I guess we kind of talked about other things on our way to you. But…it wasn't anything special. It was mostly about Parker."

"It's better than no talking at all, like you guys were doing for a while there. You had me worried," Angela said with a smile.

"I know. Me too. I mean, I thought that once Booth knew that the whole me not wanting to be partners with him anymore wasn't how I really felt, I thought that maybe he could forgive me. But it seems like it's gonna take a lot more than that."

"…and…?" Angela said, knowing there was more her friend wanted to say.

"I'm afraid he's not going to forgive me," Brennan sighed.

"Brenn, the man just bought us an extremely pricey dinner," Angela reasoned, motioning around herself to the fancy restaurant they sat in.

"It was for you, Angela. He just couldn't do it himself because he had to question Johnny Mattia. It was because you were taken captive, and he wanted to treat you to something nice for all the troubles you've been through recently."

Angela smiled. "He's a great guy, Brenn. Don't underestimate him. Once he gets Parker back, you'll see. And you need to be open to that."

"How do you know, Ange? How do you know he's not just…tolerating me?" Brennan asked desperately.

"I saw the look on his face after you kissed him. The look you refused to look back and see."

"You keep on making it sound like much more than it was. It was just on the cheek," Brennan attempted to emphasize.

Angela sighed. "Sweetie, do you remember what I said when you got in the car? A kiss is a kiss. On the cheek, well, it's not exactly what I was hoping for the two of you, but it means so much. Maybe not to you that you can see, but to him, I know it meant a lot."

Brennan looked down and poked at her food. "I don't feel so great," she confessed abruptly.

Angela eyed her with concern. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not like that, Ange. I'm fine. I just…when I told Booth I didn't want to be his partner, I said I didn't want to be his friend, and I didn't want anything to do with him."

"I thought you guys were past that," Angela said, confused.

"We are. I mean, I think we are. He's being nice to me and everything, and we've kind of started working together again, but he just…" Brennan looked up from her food to Angela. "He hasn't called me Bones. It seems like it's been forever, and I can't stand it every time he calls me Brennan. It makes me feel like he still hates me."

"Sweetie, you snapped at him not to call you Bones for months. He probably sees it as a fragile part of his old relationship with you. He's probably being as careful as he can not to make you angry so he won't lose you again."

"He never lost me! I'm right here, and every time he calls me Brennan it makes me feel sick. I don't know what it means, but I know that I don't like it and I want him to get Parker back for the sole selfish reason that I want my partner back. I want the old Booth. The one who drives me absolutely insane, the one I dedicated my book to. I don't want some stupid rookie FBI agent in my lab anymore. I want to make him change his mind about resigning and I want him to work with me again." She sighed, cooling down a bit. "I want him to come in and call me by that stupid nickname."

Angela could do nothing but smile. "Why are you telling _me_ this, Brenn? Booth's the one who needs to hear it."

Brennan went back to poking at her food. "I can't. He needs to focus on Parker."

"Alright, sweetie, but you have to promise to me that you won't let that man resign. Understood?"

Brennan nodded with a hint of a smile. "I promise."

It was a promise she had every intention of keeping.

-

_AN: I really need some motivation right now, so if you could please gift me with some reviews, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you._


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I wish. But no._

_AN: And the amazing 2 months later…here it is! I suck at keeping up with things, I hope you'll forgive me. But I'm hoping to get this story done soon, because I read a (SPOILER) spoiler for a future episode that talked about Parker's life being endangered, so I want to get this story wrapped up before then so I can say that whatever happens in the show…I didn't steal the idea!_

_Enjoy._

_-_

**Without You – Chapter 14**

Booth had gone to the Mattia household with backup to try and get to Parker before they left for wherever they were going. When he got there, all he found was Mrs. Mattia, the woman who had answered the door before. She was beaten and bloodied, and told them that John had already left with Parker. She hadn't known where they'd gone.

Booth impatiently sat at his desk, trying to put his mind to other things besides Parker.

Don came in. Finally.

"I got his credit card records, Booth. Two airline tickets purchased to Los Angeles, and two park-hopper tickets to Disneyland-California Adventure and a 3-night stay at the Candy Cane Inn. The flight he bought was scheduled to leave at two this afternoon."

"That's means I've still got time. You're the best, Don."

"That's why I still have my job. Want me to get you two tickets to LA while I'm here?"

"Two?" Booth asked.

"You and your lady scientist. I can get 'em quick."

"The case…Doctor Brennan has nothing to do with it."

Don shrugged. "So?"

Booth thought for a minute. "Yeah," he finally decided. "Go ahead and buy two." He'd invite her if she wanted to come, but doubted it. Better safe than sorry, especially trying to mend that relationship as he was. And if she didn't want to come, the taxpayers would never know.

"I'll be three minutes," Don promised.

Booth took out his cell phone and pressed the speed dial.

-

"I know I'm not the most insightful person in the world, Ange, but I think he's into you," Brennan said right before her phone started ringing.

Angela rolled her eyes. "He _so_ is not," she denied from the other end of Brennan's couch.

Brennan just smiled, and continued to smile when she saw Booth on her caller ID. "Brennan," she answered.

"Come to California with me."

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"You heard me."

Angela perked up. "Why would I go to California with you?"

"Parker's there. I'm leaving in an hour. I have an extra ticket if you want it."

Though Angela didn't even hear the reasons, she had already gotten up to start packing Temperance's bag. "How many days?" she yelled from her bedroom.

"How many days do you think?" Brennan asked.

"Pack for three."

"Three!" Brennan relayed to Angela.

"I'm on it!" came from the back room.

"Booth, I don't have anything to do with the case. Parker's not dead," Brennan reasoned.

"You said you wanted to help. I was just giving you the chance if you wanted it."

"No, Booth, I want to come…it's just, Cullen doesn't like me very much and doesn't he think we're not partners any more?"

"Cullen's not buying me the tickets."

She could tell he was smiling. "Alright."

"So, you'll come?" Booth asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

-

"Angela, do _not_ pack those," Temperance said, taking the handful of lacy things from Angela and putting them back in her underwear drawer.

Angela just smiled at her. "I was just trying to help."

Once her bag was packed and Angela slipped a few fun things in there without Brennan knowing about it, they resumed their places on the couch.

"Angela…I'm sorry I made you go through everything you did."

Angela smiled forgivingly. "You and Booth got me out. I knew you would." She obviously didn't want to talk about it, though, for she changed the subject. "So why is Booth taking you to California?"

"He said that Parker's there."

"You don't have anything to do with Parker's case. He's not dead."

"That's exactly what I said, but he didn't seem to care."

That smile crossed Angela's face again. "He wants you there when he's reunited with his son," she sang, swaying back and forth.

"I don't understand the things he does, Ange."

"Well, honey, you've got a ten hour flight to try and figure it out."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Moving to answer it, Brennan had a last minute thought that she mentally kicked herself for not thinking before.

"Ange, are you sure you're gonna be alright without me here? Because I can just stay here and…"

Angela gave her a little push towards the door. "Go save Parker. I'll be fine."

-

Booth gave her the up-down when she opened the door.

"What?" she asked him self-consciously.

He smirked and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, taking her bag out of her hands. To his surprise, she let him.

Brennan said her goodbye to Angela and the two of them began walking down the hall of her apartment building. But she wasn't about to let the up-down go. "Why did you look at me like that?"

"Like what? I didn't do anything, really." He knew she knew he was lying. The truth was, he thought her choice of clothes was especially nice, and he liked the way they fit her. But he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Fine," she said, giving up all too easily.

"What? That's it?"

"What's it?

"You aren't going to argue me to death?"

"Why would I do that?" she asked, turning her head away from him to tell him to drop the subject. She really was done arguing. That was most definitely a first. She had sped up a little, so Booth hurried to catch up with her.

"Did I do something?" he asked.

"No. Why?"

"Because I think that I just witnessed the first time in your life that you didn't get the last word in, and just dropped an argument you could have easily won."

"I didn't feel like arguing, and you looking at me isn't something I'm going to get angry about. You're a guy, I understand."

As they reached his car and got inside, Booth continued. "But you should be angry about that, because you know, what if it wasn't me? What if it was some rapist in some alleyway giving you the up-down? I mean, if you don't care when it's me, then maybe you won't care when it's a different situation."

Temperance smiled.

"What?"

She held up two fingers. "Two things. One: could you _ever_ see anyone getting their hands on me if I didn't want them to? And two: I just got you to admit that you were looking at me and doing more than just looking at me."

Booth nodded and smiled. She had gotten him fair and square. "By avoiding the topic you got me to tell you exactly what you wanted to know. That's good. See? You're learning this whole interrogation thing.

"I learn from the best."

"But what do you mean 'I'm a guy'? Like that explains everything I do?"

"When it comes to who you look at like that, yes."

"Alright, you know what? I like your clothes tonight. I think they fit you nicely. That's why I gave you the up-down."

Brennan smiled. "Angela picked them out. She said you'd like them."

"Angela's a very smart woman."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Knowing he could catch her off guard and make her say the implied, he had to ask. "You dress to please me?"

Her head turned as fast as he guessed it would. "What? No…I…I never said that. Well, yes, tonight, but not always."

Booth just smiled. "It's okay. I appreciate the consideration."

Brennan looked down at her hands. "I just wanted to make this as easy and pleasant a trip as possible for you. You deserve this to work out perfectly."

"I'd say it's off to a good start then, wouldn't you?"

"I tried."

"It's okay, Brennan. You did good."

-

Though she knew no one who particularly enjoyed redeye flights, Brennan knew the flight would be at least tolerable when Booth found out they had first class seats. The FBI having bought the tickets and all, she had unintentionally prepared herself for a chair with one foot of leg room that had a reclining position of ninety degrees. The first class tickets had been a present from the Bureau to Booth and was, needless to say, an incredibly pleasant surprise.

Though, compared to Booth, Brennan hadn't done a whole lot in the previous days, she was still overcome with tiredness the moment she sat down in the oversized way-too-comfortable chair.

She woke up God knows how much later when her pillow got up to stretch his legs. She could tell that Booth had tried not to wake her by replacing himself with a real pillow, but the movement had woken her up anyway.

Booth was standing in the aisle right by his chair when she finally opened her eyes. He looked sorry. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. Sorry. How long was I gone?" Brennan asked.

"About an hour," Booth said, checking his watch and taking his seat again.

"So what are we going to do when we get there?"

Booth pulled the file he had obviously been studying from the back of the seat in front of him. "The team at the Bureau looked at credit card transactions and found a room purchased at the Candy Cane Inn for tonight and tomorrow night. We'll start there."

Brennan was surprised by how cool he was being, but knew it was a façade. She reached out and put a supporting hand on his arm. "I know this is hard for you, Booth."

"Yeah," he said shortly, brushing her hand off his arm and standing up again, leaving her without another word.

Though hurt, Brennan mostly felt bad for making him feel uncomfortable and overstepping her bounds. They had started to go back to how they were before, and she had stopped paying attention to the boundaries she had made with her screw-up. She vowed not to do it again, and let him reach out to her instead when he felt comfortable.

When Booth returned with shifty eyes that never met hers, she pretended to go to sleep to give him his space. She noticed he was tense, but knew he had a reason to be.

As Brennan sat in her chair with her eyes closed, she listened to Booth, trying to figure out what he was doing, what he might be feeling. He kept sighing and what sounded like scrubbing his hand over his face, so Brennan could tell that he was frustrated and tired. Again, with good reason.

"I know you're not asleep, Brennan. You can stop pretending."

Brennan slowly sat up. "Sorry. I just wanted to give you some space."

"I appreciate your concern, but it's not necessary." Booth placed his hands behind his head. "I don't need your pity."

Feeling as if she'd been slapped in the face for the second time that flight, Brennan looked away and fell silent for a long while, staring out to the dark blackness of nothing through her window. About an hour later, she finally spoke.

"I wasn't trying to give you pity."

"What?" Booth asked, obviously forgetting what was said an hour earlier.

"You said you don't need my pity. I wasn't trying to give it to you. I was trying to offer the help I can give."

"Look, Brennan," Booth said, leaning forward in his seat. "I need your help on the case, I need your brain. I don't need your sad attempt to care and actually feel like a human. I'll deal with that."

Again, a stinging slap in the face.

"Okay," she said quietly, sinking in her chair, trying to be angry instead of hurt so bad she felt like bawling and screaming at the same time.

Booth quickly realized his mistake. "Brennan…I didn't mean it like that…"

"No…I really think you did. I really think you've been speaking your mind this whole time. And that's okay. I get it," she said quietly.

"Brennan, I've been living with my foot in my mouth recently. I'm nervous about Parker. I'm sorry I've been taking it all out on you."

Finally gaining some confidence and anger, she finally let him have it. "I'm _done_ being your bitch, Booth. I am _done_ getting blamed for everything, when I'm just trying to help you."

The captain came over the intercom. They'd be landing in a short 10 minutes. Thank God.

"Can't you just take a little responsibility for this? You kept information pertinent to my son's case! I can't just forget that," Booth said.

"I told you eventually and I have claimed responsibility for _everything_ over and over, Booth! I know that a lot of this is my fault. I've punished myself, you've punished me, and I'm willing to take a little more. But will you just _make up your mind?_"

"Make up my mind?" Booth asked.

"Do you forgive me of not? Do you want my help or not? You seemed perfectly fine with me before we got on the plane, maybe even better than fine. So just stop fucking around with me and tell it to me straight." Brennan looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Booth fell silent. The plane landed and taxied around in the silence that fell between them.

"I'm getting a flight back to DC, Booth. I'm sorry you can't accept my help." Brennan grabbed her bag and was the first one off the plane.

Booth was left with the acceptance of her apology and help hanging on the tip of his tongue. His mind told him to run after her, but his body couldn't move. His gut gave him the strange feeling, the inexplicable feeling, that the words he wasn't able to say would be left that way. And though he didn't know why he felt that, it scared him.

Unspoken, possibly forever.

-----

_AN: My birthday's tomorrow. Reviews?_


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: Still wishing. The answer is still no. I don't own Disneyland/California Adventure, either._

_AN: Wow. I emphatically apologize for Chapter 14. _Yuck_. I wrote half of it, then the other half two months later and didn't read over it until after I posted it. I got a lot of disappointed reviews, and I can definitely see why now. But I guess I'll just leave that there and go off of it._ I'm putting this story back on track in this chapter._ Sorry again._

_Please enjoy._

**Without You – Chapter 15**

Booth shook off the strange feeling and set his mind back to what needed his concentration the most. Enough was enough with Brennan; he couldn't worry about her right now.

As he got off the plane, Booth realized that he had gotten way too caught up in Brennan, and whatever the hell their bi polar relationship was going through. He realized that many times before, he had told himself that he needed to get his priorities straight, and he had failed every time.

Parker was in need of his help. He needed to find Parker.

-

"Anything," Brennan stressed. "The first one you have leaving that's heading in that general direction."

The woman behind the desk looked up and smiled. "The first flight we have leaving to DC is at 9 am. Would that be alright?"

Brennan looked at the time. Seven. Two hours to sit around with nothing to do. "That's fine, I'll take it."

Ticket in hand, Brennan began her long walk across LAX to get to the gate her next flight was leaving out of. Once there, she sat back in a chair and made herself comfortable. This would be a long two hours.

She had to keep reminding herself that it was for both of their own goods, for their relationship, for_ Parker_ that she wouldn't go with him, but instead keeping her distance. Ever since Booth started speaking to her again, Brennan had this underlying feeling – which at first she refused to admit – that she was in the way, that she was getting between Booth and his son, where she very simply had no place.

Really, it was one of the reasons she chose the moment on the plane to explode at Booth. She just had this overwhelming feeling that she had made the wrong decision coming with him to California. And unable to think of anything else to do, she chose to run away. Again.

Why had she been such a coward recently? Why didn't she just use logic to solve her problems? Why did she keep listening to her emotions in these situations? Why was everything seeming fine and then going back downhill? Why couldn't she manage to do the right thing?

"You don't have to run away from you problems."

Brennan looked up, startled that she was being spoken to. A woman sat across from her, looking straight at her.

"Excuse me?" Brennan asked.

"You look tense. Like you're trying to avoid something. Or someone."

"I don't mean to be rude, Miss, but I really hate psychology."

The woman raised her palms in surrender. "You're right. I'm sorry. I have issues with getting into people's personal business. I apologize."

Regretting being so blunt with the woman, Brennan decided to give her some slack. She had no idea what was going on. "No, it's okay, I tend to get into other people's business, too."

The woman dropped it like Brennan was hoping she would, turning to read a book. Temperance noticed with a smile that it was _Bred in the Bone. _Hoping to get her mind off of leaving Booth behind, she decided to try the spontaneous female bonding Angela had once mentioned.

"Do you like that book?"

The woman looked up. "It's fantastic. I recommend it if you're looking for something to read."

Temperance smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't think I'd get much enjoyment out of reading something like that."

"Why not?" the woman asked. "Even if you don't really like the whole forensic aspect, there's an entire romance story interwoven into it. It's really well-written."

Intrigued as to what a reader thought of that aspect, Brennan kept her talking. "What's that part of the book about?"

"The romance part?"

Brennan nodded.

"Oh, you have no idea! So there's this hunk of man meat working with the main character, Kathy Reichs. He's an FBI agent, Special Agent Andy Lister. Mmm! Just reading about him makes me want him."

"What happens with him?"

"Well, he's obviously interested in Kathy, and she's obviously attracted to him – I mean, who wouldn't be? – But it's almost like Kathy refuses to admit that there's a small possibility that maybe he could make her happy. That they could make it work and it wouldn't ruin their relationship. Sometimes I just want to shake her and tell her to get her skinny butt in gear!" The woman sighed and smiled. "Sorry. I really get into my books."

"No, it's great to see someone so enthusiastic about it."

The woman stuck out her hand, leaning forward. "I'm Joanne."

Brennan smiled. "Temperance Brennan."

Joanne laughed, obviously thinking Brennan was making a joke by saying that she was the author of the book. "That's a good one. I haven't heard that one yet."

"No, I'm serious," Brennan assured her with a smile. It was nice to get her mind off of things she would otherwise be brooding over at the moment.

Joanne flipped her book over to Temperance's picture on the back, then looked back up. "It's an honor, Dr. Brennan."

Temperance nodded.

"Can I ask you some things about your book? If you have time?"

"I have all the time in the world," Brennan answered.

"I know you get this question a lot, but Andy Lister? He's got to be based off of some one."

_What the hell?_ Temperance thought, deciding to tell the woman the truth. "He is, actually. He's based on the FBI agent I work with."

"Is he as handsome as you make him sound?"

"More so."

Joanne sighed. "You're a lucky woman."

"Yeah…I guess so."

Joanne must have caught something in Temperance's voice. "You don't think so?"

"Me and my partner…we've been going through some tough times."

"You wanna talk about it?"

That would be completely irrational. It's stupid to tell a complete stranger about an ongoing investigation. Hadn't she messed up enough this time around to realize that enough was enough when it came to taking chances? Call it the woman within, but Temperance desperately wanted to get what she couldn't tell Angela off her chest. She wanted someone else to care. She just wanted to _talk_ for some stupid, genetically encoded, girlish reason.

"If you have time?" Brennan asked with a smile.

"Honey, I'm not going anywhere until this plane leaves."

Brennan smiled gratefully. Given that it was her virgin experience sharing her life story with a stranger, she thought she might as well ask where to start. She sighed. "Where do I begin…"

"Start with you."

"Me? Well, I was orphaned at fifteen and put in the foster system. I got out of it, but my brother and I were never really close after my parents disappeared."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They left to go Christmas shopping and never came back. For the longest time I didn't know what happened to them. I guess that's one of the reasons I don't like getting too close to people. I think I'm afraid they'll leave and never come back…and I'll be lonely again." There was a pause while they both thought that over. Brennan decided not to go into the details about her mother and father. "Anyway," Brennan continued, "People always pointed out that my partner and I always had this…chemistry going on. Neither of us paid it much attention at first because we hated each other so much," Brennan gave a nostalgic laugh. "But then we became friends. We were there for each other. He saved my life. He was annoying as hell, but somehow I enjoyed working with him." She paused, getting ready to dive in. "But then, I got this phone call…"

-

Booth had informed all of the Disneyland and California Adventure employees of the main details of the case, and gave out photocopied pictures of both Mattia and Parker. Now, he sat just beyond the Disneyland entrance, watching the excited hordes children and their parents bottleneck through the gates and into the Happiest Place on Earth.

There were many moments of false hope where Booth might see the flash of curly, sandy blonde hair, but then the smiling child would turn around and would not carry Parker's features.

But as Booth watched them all, he realized how oblivious everyone was. There was a child molester, many perhaps, among them. What better place to find lost children who will trust anyone? They had no idea. It was Disneyland, and child molesters wouldn't dare step inside the Magical Gates to pollute this perfect place.

But they would. They did. They are, and they will.

Booth wished he could be that happy, innocent child again. He missed how it felt to be truly, completely happy, to not know about the evil in the world. To not know about the evil playing itself over and over again in the minds of adults surrounding him. To not know the evil, the killer, that rested within him.

He knew it all too well, the evil. And he wondered whether or not Parker would ever be that happy, innocent child ever again. At the rate the search was going, it was highly unlikely.

And that was heartbreaking.

-

"…and so we've been going back and forth with being angry with each other, and I just left him to go find his son on his own…and I just don't really know where to go from here."

Joanne nodded. "It was a good idea to let him do this on his own. He'll get some agents here to help him, and I think you're right. You will distract him from his son. From what I can tell, though, it's for different reasons than you think."

"Like what?" Brennan asked.

"You are very important to your partner, and he cares about you too much to pay you no mind. Whether it's good attention or bad, he's never going to ignore you. He most likely knows that as long as you two are still talking or even fighting, there's still hope for when things are less complicated. Staying out of his way is a good idea so that he can focus on his son and not keeping that valuable connection with you intact, but tonight you should give him a call."

"What would I say?" Brennan asked, surprised this woman seemed to know so much.

"Tell him why you really left him behind, and ask him if there's anything you can help him with over the phone or computer on his son's case, since you'll be in DC."

The intercom announcing that their flight was beginning to board startled Brennan; she had forgotten where she was momentarily. Both women stood up, grabbing their things.

"And one more thing, honey," Joanne said, "Ask him for forgiveness."

"Thank you for listening to me," Brennan said honestly, nodding. "It really helped."

"Mmmhmmm."

"How do you get so good at this, though?" Brennan asked, curious.

"It's what I do, honey. I'm a marriage councilor." And with that, Joanne boarded the plane.

Brennan smiled. Of course.

-

The parks had closed without a sign of Mattia or Parker. There was no room checked out to a Mattia or Booth at the Candy Cane Inn or any other hotel in Anaheim. None of the hotel employees recognized either of the pictures. At the Candy Cane Inn, all Booth could think of, and all he wanted to do, was to knock on every door until he got them. But the manager refused to let him.

In a crappy hotel room, Booth laid back on the uncomfortable, squeaky bed. There were a bunch of agents searching the closed parks and rechecking the hotel room lists, but Booth had been forced to stay in his hotel room. Just as well, he knew they wouldn't find Parker tonight. Mattia wanted to hide, and he was doing it well. It was a two-day ticket, so there was tomorrow. Now, Booth needed sleep, but couldn't.

Booth was distracted from his thoughts by the ring of his cell phone. He saw that it was Brennan. _What the Hell. Why not?_

"Booth,"

"Booth, it's me."

"I know."

"Are you in the middle of something?"

"I'm locked in my hotel room. No."

"Okay, well, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

"What?" Booth could hear the waver in her voice and prayed she hadn't found out any bad news regarding Parker.

"About the plane ride this morning. The things I said, why I left…I just need you to know why."

"If you're calling me just so that you can explain our relationship anthropologically and how the female mind anthropologically works, I'm really not interested." Every time he said 'anthropologically', he practically spat it.

"No, Booth. Can I please just explain myself?" Brennan asked, uncharacteristically passive.

Booth softened a little towards her, his anger and confusion from that morning having finally subsided. "Okay. I'm listening."

-

_AN: I've got my fingers crossed that this chapter was better than last, and that maybe I've set things in order again. Tell me how you think I did? Please?_

_AN2: I'm hoping to finish this story this week, so there might be some rapid fire updates coming up!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I don't own _Bones_. Please stop rubbing it in my face._

_AN: I understand that there are many of you waiting for the ending, and I realize this has been going at an excruciatingly slow pace. For that I apologize. I've only got a few more chapters to go._

_AN2: And a special thanks to _goldpiece _for the tip on Disneyland security._

**Without You – Chapter 16**

As Booth listened to Brennan, he wondered where all this was coming from. For the first time in a while, it seemed that Brennan actually knew what she was trying to say.

"…and I've just had this overwhelming feeling that I'm in the way between you and Parker. And I know that I don't have any right being there," Brennan continued. "Parker deserves all of your attention, everything you have. I can't allow myself to take what's rightfully his."

Booth was silent.

"Booth? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." He sighed. "Thanks. It's good to know."

"I just thought that maybe it would help you to know."

"Yeah. Thanks."

This was getting redundant. Luckily, Brennan brought up something else. "Well, if there's anything you'd like my help on, feel free to ask."

"Sure."

"Okay, well…talk to you later."

"Yeah."

Both hung up without a real goodbye.

-

_Well, _that_ sure didn't work_, Brennan thought as she set the phone down on the bedside table and proceeded to flop down onto her bed. She had tried to explain her actions as best she could, but it was obviously going to take a little more.

So that was it? Of course that was it. What else was she expecting? Forgiveness? Of course not. Brennan wasn't that stupid. But…if she wasn't expecting, or even hoping for some kind of indicator that they might be okay, then why did not receiving it make her feel empty inside?

She'd wait. It was really all she could do to avoid screwing up again.

Temperance drifted off to sleep, different versions of her apology running laps through her mind.

-

Thank God for the stupid tourist attraction of pictures taken on the roller coasters for sale. Booth spent his entire morning watching the gates to Disneyland, and after there was no sighting there, he was put in a very small, dark room with a whole bunch on monitors.

Booth watched closely for his son's face in any of the thousands of pictures he looked though, but was unsuccessful. It was very unfortunate that there weren't any rides that could be excluded because of Parker's height. Booth could have easily missed it, or he could have been hidden behind someone else.

Booth knew full well that Disneyland had an advanced system of finding lost children, but couldn't just let himself sit around and wait. Although it was a bit more difficult when the clothing was unknown, Parker's description had been sent out over the radio again that morning, and the Anaheim police had been called in when they were told it was a kidnapping and possible child molestation case. Disneyland wanted Mattia out of there as much as Booth did.

A sudden knock on the door made booth jump just the slightest bit. "Come in," he said.

When the door opened, a blond woman in her twenties with a nametag that read "Cindi" stood there with a smile on her face. "Agent Booth?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me."

"We've found your son."

-

To say that when Booth saw Parker in Lost Children, he gave him a hug and was happy to see him would be the understatement of the year. Words can not describe the joy both father and son felt.

Parker was told that his dad was coming for him, and was waiting by the entrance. Although he wasn't sure how long it had been, to a child his age, it seemed like forever.

When his dad came in sight, Parker ran towards him, not caring that all the nice people around him were telling him to stay inside. His dad was running to, and when he reached him, his dad picked him up and swung him around.

"Hey, Bub," Booth whispered into his ear.

"Hi Daddy. I've missed you. You and Mommy."

Booth put Parker down, but never let go of him. He kneeled in front of his son. "Mommy's waiting for you back home. Are you ready to go."

Parker nodded emphatically.

Questioning his own son would come around eventually, but not now. He was too excited to see him unharmed. Picking Parker up, Booth thanked Cindi and all the workers that were standing there, watching the reunion. Cindi leaned over to Booth as he was about to turn around, whispering in his ear that the Anaheim police had arrested Jonathan Mattia. Booth thanked her again, and turned to leave.

"Are you crying, Daddy?" Parker asked, looking into his dad's eyes.

Booth cleared his throat. "No Parker, I'm just glad to have you back."

"Me too," Parker said, wrapping his arms tighter around Booth's neck as they reached the exit.

Once they had cleared the gates and reached the parking lot, they walked passed the police car that Mattia was being loaded into. Booth watched, but kept walking, thankful that Parker's back was in that direction. Mattia looked straight at the two of them, a dirty look aimed at Booth.

But nothing more. It seemed as if Mattia knew that he had been defeated. And he looked almost peaceful about it. Accepting. Rotten son of a bitch.

Booth turned away and loaded Parker into his car.

-

Brennan sat on the couch in her office, having Zack give her all the details of the newest body that Agent Terrence brought in. Because of a pounding migraine headache, she had taken all the drugs she had and turned off all the lights in her office.

As if Agent Terrence was not annoying enough already, the frequency at which he spoke resonated in Brennan's head just the wrong way that made her cringe. To her chagrin, the yellow-toothed, cocky agent barged into her office, loudly asking what the news was on the case.

Temperance desperately wanted Booth back.

Thankfully, though, Brennan was given an out of talking to him when her cell phone rang on her desk. She asked Zack to give Agent Terrence the details of the case outside the office as she walked over to her phone.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Booth.

"Hey Booth."

"Hey. I'm on my way to LAX. I should be back in DC by this evening."

"You found Parker?" Brennan said, excited for him.

"Yeah," he answered, and Brennan could tell that he was smiling.

"Did you get Mattia?"

"The Anaheim police arrested him, and they're going to fly him back to DC. We'll get to interrogate him by tomorrow."

"We?" Brennan couldn't help but be hopeful.

"Yes, we," he said, and Brennan could hear Parker saying something, but couldn't quite make out exactly what he was saying. "Parker says hi," Booth relayed. Parker spoke again, and Booth answered him out of the mouthpiece, but Brennan could still hear him. "Sure, Bub. We'll visit Dr. Brennan when we get home."

With a smile, Brennan knew that Booth needed to spend time talking to his son. "Hey Booth, I'm glad to hear it, and I'll see you when you get bck. I have a case to tend to."

"Of course."

When Brennan hung up, she felt her headache somewhat relieved. Zack came in when he saw she was done on the phone.

"Is your head feeling better, Dr. Brennan?" he asked.

"Yeah, it really does."

Brennan was ready to go back to the new set of bones, and was even prepared for Agent Terrence. She felt as if the weight had lifted off her shoulders now that she knew Parker was safe and both Mattias were in custody. She took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh.

And compared to the way see felt receiving Booth's news, she could only imagine the euphoria her partner felt.

-

_AN: I was in a giving mood. Care to give a little back?_


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: No rights to them, no profit, and still, I write on._

**Without You – Chapter 17**

_Starvation. _

There was no other way to put it, no scientific words Brennan felt that she needed to use. All four sets of remains had the same place and cause of death. There was no other way that could put it better with the evidence that she possessed than in that one word. And it was a hell of a lot simpler and over quicker than going through the details.

Closing the file of the fourth small boy, Brennan once again looked out over the platform. Each was male, and each was between four and eight years old. Though there was no tissue left on the bones to prove that the boys were sexually assaulted, the confession Booth dragged out of Mattia proved that.

It had been hard, this time, to fully remove herself from the boys. Having met the killer, the molester, Brennan could see his face, see each of his terrible actions in play. And each time, having only glanced at the pictures of Skyler, Jacob, Matthew and Nathan, Brennan always imagined the victim as Parker.

Every time she tried to shake the image from her head and think about other things, but every time the image came back. Parker had so nearly escaped such a traumatizing event, such a scarring experience. If Booth hadn't gotten there when he did…

But he had. Parker was safe, Mattia was locked up.

It all seemed to be coming to a close.

"Dr. Brennan!"

_Oh dear God. No._ She'd recognize the annoying, raspy voice anywhere. Agent Terrence.

Brennan turned with a smile on her face. "Agent Terrence."

"Can we speak in your office?"

"Of course," Brennan answered, leading the way. Once they were inside, Terrence walked towards Brennan, and came uncomfortably near, so close that she could taste the cigarette smoke on his breath. _So_ in her personal space.

"Dr. Brennan, I've seen the way you've been looking at me recently…"

Classic. She really should have been expecting something like this from day one. Couldn't anyone think of something new to try?

Terrence went on to say other things about their natural attraction to one another, and how she couldn't deny her intense sexual fantasies she'd been having about him. Brennan would have laughed, but she wasn't listening, because Booth was standing in the doorway to her office, to which Terrence's back was turned.

Brennan was reading Booth's lips that told her to let Terrence go too far, as he pointed to his handcuffs. Brennan couldn't help but smile. Booth was taking his job back.

Agent Terrence, however, thought that the smile was for him. "Yeah, I knew I was right. Come on, Tempe. Give it to me."

Booth was slowly stepping closer to the agent's back, eyes locked with Brennan's. Behind him, Brennan saw three other agents appear, and knew there must be a legitimate reason to put the agent in cuffs.

How convenient.

Terrence reached for her, but never met his mark, because his arms were seized by the agent behind him. He uttered curses as his face was pushed into the glass table of Brennan's office as Booth handcuffed him.

"Special Agent Sean Terrence, you are under arrest for suspected involvement in drug trafficking. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in the court of law. Blah, blah, blah, attorney, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill." Booth gave Terrence a clap on the shoulder as he handed him off to the other agents.

Once they had cleared out, Booth and Brennan stood in the middle of her office, dead still until she spoke. "He went pretty quietly," Brennan observed, having never heard anything as to _why_ any of that just happened. Not that she was complaining.

"He was in on the kidnapping of Angela and re-kidnapping of Parker. Mattia gave up his name and Cullen gave me the honor of coming down here to arrest him. He recommended I do it in front of you."

"Wait…Terrence was in on the whole thing?" Brennan clarified.

"Yup. He was bribed into using his 'authority' here to distract you guys? What a failure to get arrested for, eh?" Booth winked, and Brennan gave a small laugh.

_So true. _Terrence had been so ineffective that no one even noticed him, much less suspected him of trying anything.

"So…did you have any suspicions about the kind, amiable and wonderfully smelling Agent Terrence, Dr. Brennan?"

"I didn't like him."

"Word on the street is that he was your only liaison to the Bureau. That's a shame."

"Yes," Brennan played along. "I'm glad he's gone, though. The FBI has always been annoying in someway or another, anyway."

"Ah, but how are you going to get those cases from the FBI that you love to solve so much, Dr. Brennan? Surely, there's some way."

"Well, you see, there was this agent a few months ago. He used to come in all the time. Annoying as hell."

Booth took a step closer to her. "Was he handsome?"

Brennan shrugged with a smile. "Some might say that."

"Whatever happened to this agent of yours, Dr. Brennan?"

She sighed. "Well, you see, I told him to go to Hell."

Booth held her gaze. "Dr. Brennan, I think that this agent might remember not being completely fair to you either."

"He thinks what he likes. I happen to disagree."

"He wanted you to know…that he accepts whatever you choose to give, and that's up to you." Booth turned, and began to leave, to let her think about it.

Calling after him before he reached her office door, Brennan took the leap. "I give everything. I just want to be forgiven."

Booth only turned halfway around. "Brennan, I forgave you the day you turned your back on me." He now turned fully. "One word from you telling me you want me gone, and I'll go, Brennan. It's up to you. Should I stay? Or should I leave?"

Brennan could do nothing but shake her head no, and somehow managed to whisper it. "Please, Booth, stay."

They didn't break eye contact for what seemed like hours. Booth extended his hand. "Partners?"

They shook. "Wouldn't have it any other way," Brennan said with a smile that reached all the way to her eyes.

After a few minutes, Booth took the file on the four boys, assuring Brennan that he could handle it. He began to walk away, but Brennan remembered one last thing.

"Booth!"

He spun on his heel, and Brennan jogged from her office to stand in front of him. "What?" he asked.

"Partners. Under one condition." She paused, thinking it through one last time. He waited. "Call me Bones."

"What? I thought you – "

"Just do it."

He chuckled the tiniest bit, pointing at her. "I knew you secretly liked that nickname."

Brennan shrugged.

"Okay, Bones. Partners."

Brennan couldn't wipe the goofy grin off her face at just hearing him say it.

-

_AN: One more to go._


	18. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: I've said it seventeen times. Give me a break._

**Without You – Epilogue**

Booth had won the custody battle.

The squints sat at the booth they had practically claimed as their own, chattering about anything and everything. Each wore as smile. _The drama is over,_ Temperance thought as she threw her own opinions into whatever argument was going on from time to time.

Her attention was drawn away, however, by the high-pitched voice that could only belong to a young boy. And when she heard the name the voice called, she knew Parker was coming, so she stood.

"Doctor Brennan!" Parker shouted, running towards the anthropologist he had come to be such great friends with.

"Parker, I told you that you could call me Tempe," she chided him with a smile, picking him up.

Parker shrugged. "My daddy says to always call you Doctor Brennan. And my daddy's never wrong!"

Booth approached the two smiling.

Brennan gave him a mischievous look, and turned to Parker. "Why don't you go and sit with Miss Angela for a while?" She set him down and he scampered off to the table.

"Should I be afraid that the two of you have bonded?" Booth asked.

"It depends on what kinds of schemes we develop. It may take time. So I'm pretty sure you're safe…for now."

Booth smiled. "Thank you."

Brennan cocked her head slightly. "What for?"

"For doing…everything you've done for Parker."

"Booth, I've only watched him a few times…and I really enjoyed it, so it's not that big of a deal – "

"No, Bones, it means a lot to him that you two have spent so much time together."

Brennan looked long at Booth, trying to read his expression. "Sure, yeah, you're welcome."

"And, I want you to know that no matter what I've said because of…everything…I trust you, Bones. I trust your judgment, your longing for the facts. I trust you with my life. Parker's life. I need you to know that."

Brennan stepped closer to her partner. "Booth? Are you alright? You've already told me all this. You don't have to…"

"And…you have to understand that I found Parker at the end there without you." Brennan was about to speak again, but Booth cut her off. "But that's not the point. The point is that yes, I did it. But it was one of the hardest things I ever did. The whole time I was focused on Parker, but you not there working with me made me feel like part of me was missing. I did it without you, but I never want to again."

Brennan shook her head. "Never again."

On the way into the hug that followed, Booth gave Brennan a kiss on the cheek before holding her so tightly, Brennan thought he'd never let go. Out of his peripheral vision, Brennan smiled. So much had changed for the better. Here, with Booth, she just felt _right_.

And she never wanted to let go, either.

-

Parker leaned over to Angela. "Miss Angela? Does my daddy love Tempe?"

Angela laughed a bit. "That's not really a question for me, Parker. You should ask your dad, not me."

"Why? What do you think?"

Angela sighed. _What the hell_. "I think he does, yeah."

"Do you think Tempe loves my daddy?"

"Oh, I know she does."

"Does Tempe love me?" Parker asked quietly.

Angela looked down to where he sat next to her. "Of course. You mean so much to her, Parker. That's why she's spent so much time with you."

Parker nodded, the gears noticeably turning in his head. "Well I love Tempe, and my daddy loves Tempe." He paused. "And Tempe loves my daddy, and she loves me…"

Angela could see where this was going and tried not to laugh. "What are you getting at?" she asked, nudging him.

"Tempe and my daddy should get married. She'd be my mommy. I'd like that," Parker decided with a nod.

Angela loved the simplicity of a child's mind. She wished things could be as simple as who loves whom. If only, if only.

-

Bones adored Parker, he knew that from the first time she ever saw him. But there were times when she didn't know Booth was watching when she really showed Parker her love for him. It may have been because she felt partly responsible for something terrible that nearly happened, but it was there. Maybe she didn't think she loved him, but it was so clear in her eyes, in Parker's eyes, when they saw each other. Sometimes Booth just wished he could sit and watch them.

What a pair.

Parker had said time after time that he wished Tempe was his mother. The thought made Booth laugh. Bones, a mother. No way.

But watching their eyes as they rejoined the group sitting at the table, Booth couldn't help but wonder.

_Nah_. Though if she ever gave him the slightest hint that that _is_ what she wanted, he wouldn't hesitate for a second to give her that. A family that wouldn't abandon her. A family that loved her.

-

She knew it was just maternal instincts kicking in, and she tried to ignore them. But who could say no to those eyes? They were Booth's eyes, alright, dark and endless that lit up when they saw her.

Brennan knew that she only felt this way because she felt responsible for the things that had happened to him. She didn't want children. She just liked Parker. She hadn't changed her mind. _Come on, Brennan. You, a mother? No. You wouldn't be able to handle it._

But still, she couldn't help but fantasize about a family that wouldn't abandon her. And family that loved her as much as she loved them.

She smiled. Maybe eventually. Just maybe.

-

"Tempe, what are you smiling for?" Parker asked with innocent eyes.

Tempe looked at him. "Nothing, Parker. I was just thinking." Parker watched as she looked at hid daddy, and his daddy looked back at her. He didn't really know why, but he knew they were talking with only their eyes.

And their eyes told volumes.

_Yup. Definitely her, _Parker decided. There was simply no other way it could work.

-

Brennan wasn't sure what the little moment the two of them had shared was all about, but she knew one thing for sure: While she had once wondered if they'd ever go back to normal again, she knew now that everything was okay. Better, even.

All of this had made them stronger. As people, as partners, as friends.

- - - - - - - - - - Fin - - - - - - - - - -

_AN: How about one last review?_

_And now, I bid you adieu. Thank you for reading._

_-JF_


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